Cruise Hails Scientology at Secret Confab

Apparently there's a lot of clay, and perhaps some grade inflation to boot

(NEWSER) - They grow up so fast: Suri Cruise’s first day of school—Scientology-flavored school—was last week. So what’s it like at the New Village Leadership Academy in Calabasas, California, which uses L. Ron Hubbard’s “study technology” educational system? Well, for one thing, there’s a lot of clay. Sculpting is apparently big at schools like this, Slate explains, because Hubbard said students are frustrated when they have no access to “mass,” or the physical presence of whatever object they’re studying. According to the official study technology website, without mass students feel, among other things, “sort of spinny” and “squashed.” Therefore, Suri will probably be encouraged to use clay to sculpt concepts she’s learning about. More»

Tom Cruise wants another, and she's doing a lot of 'auditing'

(NEWSER) - Suri Cruise may soon be getting a present even better than her $30,000 toy car or $850 handbag : a little brother or sister. Katie Holmes has been spending more time than usual at the Hollywood Scientology Center—more than four hours last week—leading some to believe she’s “being prepared” for a second child. “This is exactly what happened just before she got pregnant with Suri,” a source tells the New York Post . “Tom has made no secret of the fact that he would like another baby.” More»

Star just hopes 'Katie can keep up'

(NEWSER) - Tom Cruise is a “great parent” looking to build a 10-child brood, the effusive actor tells the Sun. Cruise, whose own father left when he was 12, doesn’t let the paparazzi get between him and parenting, saying, “I go to the children’s groups like other daddies.” And the 16-year age gap with wife Katie Holmes is irrelevant: “If I’m worried about anything, it’s if she can keep up with me.” More»

Also talks Scientology in 'Playboy' interview

(NEWSER) - Tom Cruise promotes his upcoming musical Rock of Ages in the latest issue of Playboy , but not surprisingly, the movie talk isn’t getting quite as much attention as the quotes about Cruise’s personal life. Some highlights:

• On plastic surgery: "I haven't [gotten any], and I never would."
• On his PR nightmare: Asked what he learned from his controversial interview with Matt Lauer (in which he disparaged psychiatry and prescription drugs for post-partum depression) and his Oprah couch fiasco, Cruise replied, “When I go back and look at it, I find myself thinking, I don’t feel that way. I get how it came across, but I don’t feel that way, and I never have. Telling people how to live their lives? I saw how that came across and how pieces were edited.”

This can only lead to bad things...

(NEWSER) - Raise your hand if you think Suri Cruise is going to end up worse than Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian combined. The latest tale of extravagance in the 5-year-old’s life: Parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes paid $5,000 for exclusive use of a VIP-like area at New York’s Rockefeller Center ice skating rink (skaters usually pay $75 to get access to the area ... which they have to share). As if that wasn’t enough, a source tells the New York Daily News the family also had gourmet hot chocolate and treats made by "Mr. Chocolate" himself delivered “especially for Suri,” because God forbid she be subjected to normal ice skating rink snacks. Click to be further horrified by the $130,000 worth of Christmas gifts the tot is asking Santa for. More»