Greetings from Hollywood.

Usually when I open the missive with this salutation, it's because I'm in LA to do a performance or a meeting or something else fun. Today I'm here on a somber occasion. My friend, manager and mentor John Ferriter passed away suddenly last week at the age of 59. John has represented and guided me for my entire career. He also repped Ryan Seacrest, Jeff Probst, Larry King, Garth Brooks, Piers Morgan, the Beach Boys, Jerry Garcia and many other notables too numerous to mention. In an industry that is rife with liars, slimeballs and reprobates, John was truly one of the good guys. Today, Hollywood honors him.

I'll miss him for the rest of my days.

Here's what I've been into the last week:

BOOKS

Back in April, I adopted a Bichon Frise pup and I've been immersed in the wonderful world of housebreaking and obedience training. I've been reading THE ART OF RAISING A PUPPY by The Monks of New Skete. The Monks of New Skete have a community in upstate New York and for the last four decades it's been financed through the breeding and training of dogs. Bottom line: they've seen every dog behavioral issue and temperament there is. They've written three bestsellers on dog rearing and training and after reading this book, I can see why they've sold a couple million books. It's a great primer for the new puppy owner!
READ.

MOVIES

I finally broke down and saw the new version of THE LION KING. I have fond memories of taking the kids to see the original back in the day, so I went with my daughter Carolyn. It was really terrific. The animation was so incredibly real I was sure that I was watching real animals on the screen. Just superb. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and GO.

By the way, my Carolyn is 28 today. Happy Birthday, Kid!
It's weird that's she's 28 since I'm only 29.

Last night, I caught BOOKSMART, the coming of age film that's the directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde (HOUSE). The film center on two best friends (played to comedic perfection by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) who realize on the last day of their senior year that while they've had single-minded focus on academics to successfully get into great colleges, the kids who partied and goofed around had fun and got into great schools too. So the girls decide to go to their first party so that they can say that they've had at least some fun while they were in high school.

Produced by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, it's at times cerebral, other times raunchy and always hilarious.
GO.

EATS

I had a wonderful brunch this week at Zazie in San Francisco's Cole Valley. They make some wonderful egg dishes and I'm intrigued enough to go back to see if their dinners are as good. It's a popular place and they don't take reservations so be prepared for a short wait. It's worth it, though. Zazie is located at 941 Cole Street in San Francisco.

PODCASTS

Found a great podcast by the folks at Lawfare called THE REPORT. It's a dramatization of The Mueller Report to promote greater, more easily digestible comprehension of what the Special Counsel's Office found.
LISTEN.

OBSESSED WITH...

The soundtrack from ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD...
It's loaded with classic 60s tunes pluse promos and commercials from LA's KHJ in 1969. Check it out!

PERFORMANCES

Charlie Varon and I will be doing three big performances of The Great American Shit Show in the coming weeks. GASS is a collection of new monologues on life in the era of Trump. It'll make you laugh but, more importantly, it'll make you think.

AUGUST 15: Tabard Theater, San Jose, 8 PM
AUGUST 17: Castro Valley Performing Arts Center, Castro Valley, 7 PM
AUGUST 18: Marin Center, San Rafael, California 7 PM

READING OF MY NEW PLAY

I'm doing a special reading of my new play, Grandma & Me: An Ode to Single Parents  at San Francisco Playhouse on Monday, August 5 at 8. Admission is free. Please come on down and join me!

Have an awesome weekend.

Copie

FOLLOW BRIAN:

Twitter: Twitter.com/briancopie
Facebook: facebook.com/briancopie1
BrianCopeland.com