Hello, gang! A few notes and I comment on some of the bigger stories in this issue. Shall we begin?

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KIDS AND DRUGS (the prescribed kind)
Is anyone surprised that the family of Charles Bishop is looking for a scapegoat to blame for their son's actions? When are parents going to accept the responsibilities for their children? With the 3 year anniversary of the Columbine tragedy nearly upon us, it seems more and more that parents are leaving the raising of their children to anything, from sitting them in front of the television all day to prescription drugs. My own son, Phillip, was diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) when he was young, and the doctor prescribed Ritalin. Now when I was a kid, and Matt will vouch for this, I had the same problem. Only back then the name for it was "fooling around in class!" The only thing I noticed different about my son is that when he takes Ritalin he doesn't eat.........it zaps his appetite. The only drug my son needs is his mother and I to be involved in his life. Sadly, I was very absent the first ten years of my son's life. But since I moved to Kansas, I have become one of his recommended daily doses of parental guidance. His mother and I know where he's going, where he's been and where and what he's doing tomorrow. We speak to him daily and make sure he knows we are interested in being a part of his life. I can assure you that there are no high powered rifles under his bed and I can sleep soundly at night knowing he's not flying a plane into an office building! My hear goes out to the parents of Charles Bishop. Once they look in the mirror and accept their role, or lack of one, in their son's life, perhaps they can find the answers they are looking for.

THOU SHALL NOT TOUCH
I remember a scene from the film, "Jeffrey," where Steven Webber goes to church to confess to his priest. The priest, played by Nathan Lane, begins to come on to him. "But, you're a priest," Webber exclaims. To which Lane answers, "You're right......I'm a CATHOLIC PRIEST!"

Like Nolan, I was baptized and raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school for many years. Having a Catholic dad and a Jewish mom (Scott Gilbert refers to me as "Cathewish"), I was given the opportunity to choose the religion I wanted to follow. I was married in the Catholic church. My only quarrel with them is that, as a divorced man, I am not supposed to accept holy communion during mass (I still do.........I think if it really pissed God off he'd have choked me to death on the wafer by now). My son went to Catholic school until the 5th grade, when his mother and I decided he was coming home with more "make money for the parish" notes then homework. He was also an altar boy for two years. During that time, there were stories, though rare, about priests molesting children. Often times I would question him, in a round about way, about his duties at church and his time spent with the priests. Did I suspect anything was going on? Of course not. One of the priests, Father Carl, had counseled my wife and I before our wedding and performed the ceremony. I remember being in a fast food restaurant a few days before I was married and Father Carl came in. He walked past me and put his hands on my shoulder. I told my wife to be that I almost felt blessed. Something about the "hand of God" working through him, I guess. But then I read that all of these priests had been loved by their flock. The hardest part about making accusations is that NO ONE believed the kids at first. Not Father So and So! But now it appears that this has been something that has been swept under the carpet for DECADES! Funny how it took the Pope getting involved for this story to make it to the front pages! My heart and prayers go out to those innocent children who's faith was abused by the one person they were told they could always trust! I'm sure this isn't the last of this story.

CGI
If I had any complaints about George Lucas's use of CGI in the original "Star Wars" trilogy it would be that he felt it necessary to have Greedo fire at Han Solo first in the cantina! Plus, he took out the cool "Yub Yub" song the Ewoks sing at the end of "Jedi."

CALL ME SCOOP
Wednesday brought the confirmation of the "Sans Halen" tour. As reported here some time ago, former Van Halen front men David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar have announced a 21 city tour which will, in fact, bring them to me in KC. I'll let you know if I get tickets.

MOVING ON
   Damon Knight, a prolific science fiction writer and editor who helped transform pulp science fiction into a respectable genre, died Monday at age 79. After his first story was published in 1941, Knight went on to write 13 novels and over 100 short stories. His best known story, "To Serve Man," was the basis for a classic "Twilight Zone" episode. Knight helped found the Science Fiction Writers of America and was the editor of Orbit, a science fiction monthly magazine. He won a HUGO award in 1956 for reviewing and was given a Grand Master Nebula award in 1994.
   Robert Urich, whose career spanned 4 decades of television, passed away Tuesday morning from cancer. He was 55. Best known for his work on "Spenser: For Hire," he had suffered from cancer since 1996. Born in Toronto, Ohio, Urich attended Florida State on a football scholarship. Another FSU football star, Burt Reynolds, gave him his first break in show business, getting him work in a play he was doing. His first television series was 1973's "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice." He followed that up by portraying tennis pro Peter Campbell in the hit comedy, "SOAP." His biggest hit was as Detective Dan Tanna on the show, "Vega$." To me, his best work was in the mini series "Lonesome Dove," where he portrayed the doomed and troubled Jake Spoon. Diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma, a rare cancer that attacks the joints, he underwent chemotherapy, radiation treatments and surgery, but he never stopped working. His final series was the short lived "Emeril," which ran this past fall. His most recent TV appearance was Monday in "Night of the Wolf," which ran on the Animal Planet channel.

Well, that's it for this week. See ya!