I've now seen several different trailers for Jim Carrey's upcoming release Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind.  The initial teaser struck me as bizarre and a little bit darker than I usually like.  But then, out came the full trailer, and all of a sudden I had a better feeling about it, and I am now looking forward to seeing it.  After pondering what could have caused my change of heart, I realized that it was the use of ELO's (Electric Light Orchestra) Mr. Blue Sky in the background.  If you know the song, then you know it's hard for the mood to be dark when that song is happening.  Anywho, I just thought it was interesting that a song choice for a trailer can really change a lot.

Yup, I'm wearing shorts today!

I think I'm supposed to feel my first twinge of getting old now.  My 10-year high school reunion has been planned for October 23, 2004.  The timing is actually kind of good news.  Having never had a high school reunion before, I hadn't thought about the fact that it might tend to be planned around homecoming.  Instead, I was assuming that it would be planned for the 10-year anniversary of our actual graduation, so I expected it might happen as early as this May.  How naive.  Fortunately, I now have five extra months to become insanely wealthy or hugely famous.  Anyway, I think I'm supposed to feel old, but when I imagine what my high school contemporaries might be doing these days, I can't help but feel like I still have the freedom of youth.

I saw Bill Bennett interviewed tonight, and he presented some good arguments opposing gay marriage.  He pointed out that it is not a civil rights issue; a gay man has every right to get married...to a woman.  No one is trying to deny him that right based on his sexual preference.  A lot of people are trying to make an equal protection argument.  Guess what, sexual preference is not equally protected by the constitution.  So, it really is a definition of marriage issue.  Bennett also pointed out that all of the cases that support the illegality of polygamy will also have to be revisited if marriage is defined.  I particularly enjoyed his description of marriage throughout history as an institution that “civilizes men, protects women, and raises children.”  I think it comes down to this.  Homosexuals, in spite of their freedom to act however they want, are hoping to further suppress their own conscience by gaining the official approval of the state.

Part of the reason that I believe that we really need to draw the line here is because of a sentiment that I've overheard twice in conversation in the past couple of months.  I've overheard two random, completely separate people put pedophilia in the context of a 'sexual preference'.  Let's face it, it was bound to happen.  As we look back over the years, people have tried to rationalize deviant behavior by appealing to our desire for personal freedom.  They will keep doing it until no behavior is considered deviant.

Finally, we had a beautiful day today here in Hollywood.  So, I thought I'd go for a stroll up to Hollywood Blvd and check out the preparations for the Academy Awards.  The street has been blocked off all week as they've laid the red carpet out all along the street and up to the Kodak Center entrance.  The beginning of the red carpet starts at Highland.  They've got a bunch of huge oscar statues and of course the bleachers for the fans.  One thing that seemed odd was that there were a bunch of strobe-type lights all along the red carpet, and they were going off randomly, even though there was nobody on the red carpet yet.  I figure either they are trying to simulate all the flashes from the cameras that will be going off tomorrow, so they can get the lighting right, or all the flashes that you see going off on TV aren't actually people taking pictures, and they just fake it.  I roamed around on the upper levels of Hollywood & Highland Mall to see if I could get a better view.  There really are some good vantage points up there, but I bet they'll be packed out tomorrow.  I ventured down to the part of the red carpet closest to the Kodak Center entrance, and it's open to the public.  So, I walked around on it a bit.  Well, I walked around on the plastic that is covering the red carpet.  Then I stepped off the carpet and back into my humdrum life.  I've been reading about the controversy of the 5-second delay for the Oscar telecast.  A lot of people have just accepted the fact that nothing shocking will happen, and so the show will be boring.  That's what's sad; the assumption that we are only entertained by things that are shocking.  Anyway, shocking or not, the Oscar's probably will be boring.

Since Jamie doesn't blog any more, I thought I'd post this pic of her latest painting, which can be yours for only $5,000!

We got to the ArcLight at about 11:40 p.m.  Outside the entrance were several camera crews interviewing people.  As Jamie and I entered the lobby, we were approached by a man and woman who wanted to interview us about the movie.  We answered their questions, while reserving judgment of the movie until after we saw it.  Unfortunately, they just said they were from a “Christian magazine”.  They didn't tell me which one, but I guess I'll be seeing that magazine in heaven.  Anyway, we headed into the theater, dodging other reporters, and settled in to our reserved seats.  (For DC Talk fans, there was a possible K-Max sighting.)  The movie was playing in the CineramaDome, which I'm not a big fan of, but what is important to note is that this particular screen has a curtain that covers it entirely.  It opens for the previews, then closes and reopens to set the feature apart.  So, the previews played, the screen closed, reopened, and then we all just sat in black silence waiting for the movie to begin.  It didn't.  The lights came back on, and we had to wait several minutes for them to work out the problem.  Very un-ArcLight.  Eventually, it got started, and was captivating from the first moment.  I did have to fight hard to watch it as a movie on its own terms, because all the controversy and things I heard would pop into my head as a new scene would begin or a new character would appear.  Man, it was gut-wrenching.  It was bloody and violent.  Kind of like real life.  I've read about people who complain that it was too violent, about people who had to leave in the middle of it.  I guess I'm just glad that Jesus didn't leave in the middle of it, that he endured it until everything was accomplished.

As the credits began to roll, an odd thing happened.  The curtain closed, the lights came up, and the film stopped rolling.  A few people began to get up to leave.  However, the majority demanded that they roll the credits, which they did.  Then they demanded that the curtain reopen, which it did.  Then they demanded that the lights go off, which they did.  Then, everyone stayed until the last credit rolled and then applauded.  If I were in Texas, this would not have surprised me, as I would have assumed that I was in the theater with a church group.  But I saw the movie in Hollywood, on Sunset Boulevard.  I'd be surprised if there were enough Christians in Hollywood to fill a theater.  I just think it says a lot that even this audience showed this amount of respect for this movie.

We saw the movie tonight.  It is indeed powerful both in art and in message.  Mel Gibson's career will not suffer.  The movie inspired no feelings of anti-semitism in me, only devastation at the display of what my sin cost Christ, instead of me.  I don't know yet how a non-Christian might respond to this.  I will probably see it again in the next week.  Don't wait until it's on DVD; you need to see it in theaters to feel the full weight of its impact.  I would not take my niece and nephew to see it.  More tomorrow after I've had time to reflect.

It happened this Monday.  I got my email newsletter from the ArcLight, and it featured the 'sneak preview' of The Passion of the Christ on Tuesday at midnight.  (Technically Wednesday at 12:01 a.m.)  I thought, “Awesome!  I'll get an early shot at the movie, and come back and blog about it for you guys.”  So, I immediately bought tix online and called Clinton to encourage him to do the same.  So, the next night we went over to Clinton's for Taco Tuesday.  Jamie lasted until about 10:00 p.m., then went to take a nap.  We woke her up in time to get going, and headed down to the theater.  When we got there, the place seemed pretty closed up, but we went in, and the security guard told us, “No more movies tonight.”  We said, “We've got tickets for the midnight show in the dome.”  The dome is separated a little bit from the regular theater.  That seemed to satisfy the security guard.  Clinton went up to Guest Services to get his actual tickets, because he had been forced to order them over the phone, and all he had was a confirmation number.  The attendant did something, then told him to just bring a certain piece of paper back when we came to see the movie.  Clinton said, “I'm here to see the movie now.”  Everyone was pretty confused at this point, because we had showed up for the movie a week early.  Doug even wore a tie.  The good news was that the ArcLight had already validated our parking.  Real review coming next week.

(Three posts in one week.  Booyah!)

I don't do a lot of music reviews here, but I'll tell you that I've really been enjoying my Valentine's Day gift from Jamie of Jet's album Get Born.  I really liked the song 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl', which is why Jamie got me the CD.  That song sounded like a classic the first time I heard it, you know what I mean.  I like most of the CD as well.  They've got some nice piano-driven tunes, reminiscent of Ben Folds.  So, if you liked the single, check out the CD, I guess that's what I'm really trying to say.

Update: Here's a link just for you B-dub. http://www.jettheband.com/

Today I had my first LA subway experience, and I'd say it was a pretty smooth one.  Jamie took the car to work today, but then we ended up having some friends who wanted to meet us for lunch at Universal City where she works.  So, I decided to walk the 7-8 blocks up to Hollywood & Highland, where I caught the Red Line going west.  It seemed like kind of a long walk, which is pathetic.  It's obviously been awhile since I lived in NYC, where the walk would have been nothing.  I bought my ticket ($1.25 one way) and headed down to the train, noticing the peculiar lack of any ticket agent or turnstiles to verify my ticket.  The train was pulling up as I headed down the stairs.  Since it was my first time, I wasn't sure which direction I needed to be heading.  Just as I figured out that this was the train I needed, the doors closed.  Alas!  But fortunately, someone down a ways stuck his hand in, which caused all the doors to reopen, so I hopped in.  I was just going one stop, but the ride lasted a good 5 minutes, very strange compared to NY.  The train stopped on Lankershim, which, as I had worried, was at the bottom of the hill upon which sits Universal CityWalk.  There was a shuttle, but I was already late, so I trudged up the hill and through the CityWalk.  All in all, it took me about 35 minutes door-to-door.  Not too bad, though I was late.  I think I just got my exercise for the year in as well.