A Famous Raw Foodist With a Checkered Past

Movie star Woody Harrelson is a raw foodist and environmental activist. I met him a few years ago at the Sarasota Film Festival, where I told him about my online magazine, www.RawFoodsNewsMagazine.com, and tried to set up an interview with him--but he dissed me. His convicted murderer father died last week and the following profile of Woody explains a lot about the paradox of his life.

Here's a small excerpt from this fascinating article:

Woody Harrelson is, by his own admission, a wild and crazy guy. On the one hand, he is a bleeding-heart Hollywood liberal straight out of central casting: a vegan, a peace activist, a warrior for the environment and an agitator for the decriminalisation of marijuana. On the other hand, he has quite a temper and a track record of drinking and brawling.

During one stint on the London stage five years ago, he got into a shouting match with a taxi driver, ripped out an ashtray and smashed the door to override the central-locking system. (Charges were dropped after he agreed to pay for the damage.) Last year, he grabbed a paparazzo by the neck outside a Hollywood nightclub and, according to a subsequent complaint, broke the viewfinder on his camera.

Just a couple of weeks ago, he got into a fight with a bouncer at a trendy watering hole in Venice, California, after he was told he could not leave the premises with a glass of wine in his hand. Two traffic cops writing a parking ticket on the other side of the street slapped him in handcuffs, but eventually let him go with a warning after it became clear he had damaged himself more than the bouncer. (He cut his hand on a broken wine glass.)

Help Spread the Word: Stop Global Warming; GO VEGAN!

I'm a raw vegan and I believe it's a great way to eat, for so many reasons. Most people in the world are carnivores and omnivores. When those people become vegetarians and vegans, they're moving closer to raw vegan. It so happens that in a United Nations report scientists found that when people switch to a vegan diet, it does more to prevent global warming than even switching to a hybrid car.

Buy a t-shirt or bumper sticker, send some to politicians, and spread the word:

Stop Global Warming, GO VEGAN!

Restaurant Chain's TV Commercial Inspired by Leno Show?

Have you seen the Subway TV commercial where the customers drive up to a fast food place and order things like "a double chin" and "thunder thighs"? The Leno show's been doing this kind of humor for years, when they call products what they really are. Did Subway hire Leno's writers? Or did they "borrow" this style of humor for their commercials?

What Women Want--Truer Words Were Never Spoken

I don't care what religion you are, or even if you're an atheist. But Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes here about what women want, and he's right on!

What woman doesn't want what he's writing about? I exhort men everywhere to take heed of the rabbi's wise words!

My friend Jill's feature film, Creating Karma, Wins Award at LA Festival

Jill Wisoff plays George's blind date in my short comedy video called Anomalies. Jill's an accomplished composer, musician, screenwriter, actress, and more. And now, Creating Karma, the first feature film that she's produced, directed, co-written and acts in, has just wrapped up its LA festival premiere at the 2007 Brilliant Light International Film Festival of Los Angeles, where it won the award for Best Narrative Feature Comedy in the category About Women By Women.

Creating Karma is about a corporate climber who becomes a poet after moving in with her new-age sister. The film is rounding off a festival year and is scheduled to screen in the Cannes Film Market for the international buyers. Jill writes: "With songs you'll leave the theater humming, it features top billed Karen Lynn Gorney of Saturday Night Fever Fame, Joe Grifasi, Carol Lee Sirugo, Jill Wisoff and Rahad Coulter-Stevenson as the puppet wielding love interest, with DP work by Carter Bissell and score by Joel Diamond."

Mazel Tov, Jill!!! I can't wait til it's gotten a major distribution deal!

My Wish Comes True Re: Cavemen Commercial!

News articles say that my wish--for Geico's Cavemen to become a TV show--is in the works!!!

Here are some excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article:

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0305wsj-geico05-ON.html

Although the project is at a nascent stage - there's no script and no cast - plans call for the comedy to be titled "Cavemen" and focus on a trio of prehistoric characters who battle prejudice in modern-day Atlanta. Walt Disney Co.'s ABC will pay for the pilot and show, if one eventually materializes. Geico, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will have no creative control but will receive a royalty payment for the use of the character.

The initiative for the cavemen pilot came from Joe Lawson, the writer behind the cavemen commercials and a Martin Agency employee, who decided in late fall to pursue a TV show. With Geico's approval, the ad firm hired entertainment services agency Management 360 to shop the idea to networks.

A spokeswoman for the ABC Television Studio, which will produce the pilot, said no executive would speak about the project because "it's way too premature to comment." She cautioned that there is no guarantee "Cavemen" will result in a prime-time show. ABC has ordered 15 other comedy pilots for the 2007-2008 television season and will likely give the green light to fewer than five for full-fledged series production.Much remains uncertain. It isn't clear whether ABC would use the three little-known actors who have starred in the ads. The three are identified by a person close to the agency as Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ben Weber and John Lehr. It's also not clear whether Geico would continue to use the cavemen ads if the series was to get off the ground, although ABC would see that as a positive, according to a person familiar with the network's thinking, as the ads would help promote the show.