<p>I thought the <a href="http://www.flatlandmedia.com/flatlander/commentview.aspx/9a8fa76f-cfbe-4869-a573-8edbc28d22a1">Ten Commandments discussion</a> was good enough to bring it back up top for a few more thoughts I've had about it in the past couple days. I've been trying to think about from a very pragmatic approach that doesn't concern interpretation, or founders' intentions, or my Christian ideals. It seems that all parties concerned would agree at least one thing: the Constitution is a document that is supposed to protect our freedom. That's my big assumption here. If you disagree, then read no further as my thoughts will be rubbish. So, with this in mind, I have had a hard time understanding the mindset of the person that walks into the rotunda of an Alabama courthouse, sees a monument portraying the Ten Commandments, and then realizes that because of this, they are not free enough. I mean, who sees this and thinks, my rights are being blatently raped by the government! Because I don't understand this approach, I'm forced to suppose that the person who fights the presentation of this monument must have an agenda other than their own personal freedom, or the freedom of other citizens, even though they claim to be providing more freedom to us by removing the monument. So, what could that agenda be? It seems to me that what these people want is not freedom of religion, which is what the Constitution talks about, but freedom from religion. But I figured that it's more than just freedom from religion that they want, because I think we all know that we can be as free from religion as we want to be in this country. Instead, I think these people are seeking the ultimate freedom, the freedom from conscience. The morality inherent in God-fearing religions must be a reminder to them that however free they think they are, they still seem to be subject to someone or something. They still seem to feel guilty about something, even though they think that they have only to answer to themselves. </p> <p>OK, so I've made some generalizations here, but these thoughts have encouraged me to examine my own ideas about and desire for freedom. I, too, like to think of myself as autonomous, but fortunately when I'm forced to confront the fact that I'm not, I don't have to try to hide from my guilt. I know to whom I answer, personally, and that grants me a freedom that even the freedom of conscience could never bring. I think I'm about to make myself cry, so I'm going to stop there.</p>

I feel like my blog is somewhat famous. An old friend from college recently found me through the blog by searching for 'Pete Coulter Waco' on google. It provided a link to the story about messing with the roll in Calculus class. Technology...

It's been a long time coming, but finally the wait is over. I found out on Sunday night that there is a show at Universal City Walk that truly entertains audiences. That show is the musical version of Spiderman the movie. For those of you who have been feverishly writing the perfect American musical, you can throw your notebooks away, because it is upon us. Jamie and I went to our first LA pub, The Fox and The Hound, with Jamie's manager on Sunday night. Eventually, we were joined by Ryan, who manages Quiksilver at The Grove, and his wife Christine, or Christina, or Kristine, or Kristina, or Margaret, I don't remember which. Anyway, she is an actress, and had just come from her performance as Girl #2 in the musical version of Spiderman. I don't know for sure that the show is called 'Webs!', but I kind of wish that it was. I asked if there were original songs written for the show, because I really wanted to hear a poignant lyric about how a boy gained superhuman powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. Alas, the show is full of recycled songs including 'I Need A Hero' and 'Another One Bites The Dust'. On another note, the pub grub was good, as was the Guinness, while the atmosphere and service could have been better. It was no 'The Field'.

As you all know by now, the federal court has ordered the Alabama Supreme Court to remove from its grounds a monument to the Ten Commandments. This situation, as well as the book 'Reefer Madness' that I recently checked out of the Webdell library have stirred a reaction in me. I've always been a great supporter of the U.S. Constitution. I've been proud of how the document has stood the test of time and helped to keep our nation free. In other words, I've swallowed the tripe that the Constitution is a holy document that supercedes all else in this country. It seems to me that we have so enshrined the Constitution that it has ardent followers much like any organized religion. As a result, all the arguments that are being made are claiming to be 'constitutional'. Some argue about the intentions of the forefathers. Others argue that those intentions do not matter. Some argue for the separation of church and state. Others argue that talk of such a separation is not present in the Constitution. Some argue that our system of law is built on the Ten Commandments. Others argue that the Ten Commandments is enough of a historical document that its religious significance is unimportant. All of these arguments try to appease the Constitution. Instead, someone needs to state the obvious. If the Constitution can be interpreted to mean that the Ten Commandments can not be displayed on public grounds, then the Constitution needs to be changed. Forget trying to change its interpretation, because someone will always try to alter the interpretation right back. Instead, change the 'holy' document so that no one can misinterpret it any longer. If we allow the Constitution to supercede what is right, then it no longer serves its purpose.

I've been thinking about what I wrote yesterday about C.U.E., and I keep questioning my harsh critique of the situation. I'm afraid that it may look like I'll only like a church if it's 'cool' enough. On the contrary, I don't need 'cool', I need authentic. It just turns me off to see a church try to be something that it's not.

Jamie and I finally got to visit our first church in LA yesterday. We had heard a lot of positive stuff about <a href="http://www.fpch.org/">Hollywood Presbyterian,</a> so we got online to check out when their services are. One of their services is called C.U.E. for Contemporary Urban Experience. While I realize that this may sound like religious types trying too hard to sound cool (ala J.A.M. singers), the description seemed to suit us. Better yet, the sample of the music for this service really suited us. So, we went down to Qtopia to check it out. Qtopia appears to be some kind of night club on Hollywood Blvd that is used for more than one purpose. For instance, Jamie's friend from work recently had some art exhibited there. The outside walls were covered in graffiti, but we couldn't see any of the graffiti on the approach, because the wall was covered with a huge black plastic tarp. I'm guessing that the graffiti might have been offensive. Once inside, the place was basically just a warehouse, probably about twice as big as the old 12th street ubc building. The reason I think that it is still a functioning night club was because of the expensive lighting system in the ceiling that they were not making use of during the service. The room was full of green plastic lawn chairs, but not very full of people, though it was starting time. The band started up, led by Rich Ochoa, and the music was really, really good. Some songs were familiar, others were not, but were easy to catch on to. Slowly, the chairs started to get filled in around us until the whole place was pretty packed. So far, so good, right? But then people started talking. The language and the presbyterian formality that crept into the interaction seemed to miss the point of having an informal setting and guitar-driven worship. The sermon was short, which is an apparent requirement for this service. But a short sermon also misses the point of reaching its intended audience if it is filled with the religiosity that turns many of us off. All in all, the music was good, but the marketing of the rest of the service was confusing. It seemed to me to be a glorified youth group setting. I realize this sounds harsh, and I pray that they are effectively reaching some people, but we're going to keep looking. I wanted to ask the guys in the band where they would be going to church if they weren't leading here. Jamie and I did experience a very powerful and relevant message later that day, however, when we watched the movie 'Signs'. Wow, it was better the second time around.

Well, it looks like my temporary project in El Segundo is winding down. I'll probably put in another week or two of work via the Volt temp agency. The good news is that after that, the VP told me that she wants to hire me on a contract basis to continue to work for them. Not only will I get to work from home most of the time, but I get a pay raise from what the temp agency was paying. In addition, it looks like I may have a job interview with a company out in Santa Monica next week. It's hard to tell if it's even a job I'd be interested in, but it's worth checking out.

(My apologies for going so long without a post. It's because...of...the...big blackout...yeah...)

<p>If I ever do have a career in the entertainment industry, I'll probably remember yesterday for a long time. Last night, Jamie and I attended our first Hollywood movie premiere. It was for the movie "Grind", which was not a movie I would have gone to see, except for the opportunity to go to a premiere. Tony Hawk, the namesake of Jamie's store served as an executive producer on the film, which makes sense as it is a skateboarding movie. As a result of his involvement, they shot a promo for the movie at the store where Jamie works. Jamie went in on her day off to help out, and the producer promised us tickets to the premiere. Surprisingly, she came through.</p> <p> OK, so here's the situation. The premiere is going down at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, so we park up in the Hollywood hills and walk down, so we don't have to deal with parking up close. As we get close to the theatre, we can see that in the empty lot next to the theatre, there is a huge skate ramp and some promotional tents. There is a huge crowd lined up around the edge of the lot, mostly tourists and those who want to know what all the hubbub is about. We show our tickets at the gate, and they let us in through a line of people handing us promotional materials and candy for the movie. But don't think that we're headed into the theatre any time soon. No, we'll be out here doing the pre-show for a while. We immediately spot an In-N-Out truck and gravitate towards the line in front of it. We soon discover that they are indeed handing out double-doubles for free. In fact, everything within the fence is free, so we start making the rounds after polishing off our burgers. Next up is the Red Bull bar where they are serving Red Bull with Skyy. I haven't received my real Cali license yet, so I have to show them my folded up paper temporary license accompanied with an explanation. They buy it. After the beverage, we visit some of the product tents where we get Etnies t-shirts, Zoo York stickers, Head Games hair products, a ton of CD samplers. Then we head over to the Krispy Kreme table for a little dessert action. As we enjoy our haul, there is an emcee on stage that only gets attention when he gives out free stuff to the crowd. Jamie's co-worker, Andy, who is a solid mix of Craig Wilson and Jonathan Jones, goes near the stage and yells at the emcee until he finally succumbs and tells the prize-hander-outers to give the "psycho guy" a hat. One other note about the pre-show party. I haven't seen this kind of girls-dressing-up-to-be-seen since Crickets on a Saturday night. Once "Nappy Roots" performs a decent set of four songs to a relatively disinterested crowd, we head into the theatre. At the concessions we are greeted with free popcorn and beverages before we head down to our seats. The middle section is reserved for the cast and crew, where we see many of the stars of the movie. The movie starts and the cast/crew section cheer for each name in the opening credits, which is a little bit annoying, but I'm all for camaraderie. We sit through the movie (which makes no sense, tells no story, and I think would even be boring to a young teen) until we have to go to the restroom. Jamie goes first, where she glimpses the female star of the movie, also going to the bathroom. There is no one famous in the bathroom when I go, but on my way back up the stairs, I trip on the last step just in time to display my adroitness to the main guy on the new show 'The OC'. Once the movie is finally over, head on home.

So, why will I remember this night? Is it because they gave me free In-N-Out and Krispy Kreme? Yes. But also because of the cast/crew section of the theatre. It was kind of cool to actually see all these people watch the fruit of their labor for the first time corporately. In spite of the fact that the movie sucked, which I'm sure most of them knew, they created something together that no one of them could have done on their own. It inspired me to want to find some people out here that I can help to create something. Hopefully, that something will be better than 'Grind', but if we're going to suck, at least we'll suck together.

Celebrity sightings: Wee Man, Ryan Atwood, Seth Donovan, Jason London, Jennifer Morrison, Stephen Root, Vince Vieluf*.

*Some of these might not exactly be celebrities, but you'd probably no who they were if I explained it to you.

What up, yo? We went to San Diego this weekend for a little anniversary celebration with Jamie's parents. We had dinner at the Prado, which some of you may remember as the site of our wedding. I was thinking to myself about that day and how much fun was had by all. Perhaps, I thought, on our tenth anniversary, we'll get everybody back together and do it again. That would be a blast. Anwyay after dinner, we went to see Sinbad. The comedian, not the animated feature. It was enjoyable. His set derived mostly from reacting to what the crowd yelled out to him, rather than a notebook of cleverly crafted jokes. The only downside of the weekend is that Jamie had to come back to work today, so we didn't get to hang with Jeff like we'd hoped.

<p>I'm blogging once again from my temporary assignment out here in El Segundo. I couldn't help myself, because what happened here today has blown my mind. I sit in a cubicle with two occupied cubicles behind me. To my left are a couple of regular offices that house sales people. One of these people, we'll call her 'Georgia', is a smoker. That alone is enough to make her bad, but there's more. Even before I knew that Georgia was a smoker, I got a sense that the rest of the people in the office were not big fans of Georgia. People didn't necessarily pay attention when she talked. If they did pay attention, it was often followed by a roll of the eyes. On Monday, I overheard her ask three different people how their weekend was only to be ignored because the people she was asking were all on the phone. Until today, I thought they were all a bit harsh, but now I'm starting the think that the reason this woman is so unpopular is because she is oblivious not only to what other people are doing around her, but that there ARE other people around her.</p> <p> Now, as I mentioned, she's a smoker, and we're used to catching a whiff of her reek whenever she comes in from a cigarette break. As a result, we didn't pay much attention at first to the odor lingering in the air this morning. However, as time passed, and we hadn't noticed Georgia walk in or out for a while, we got a little curious. Indeed, the odor was not dissipating; it was growing stronger. Georgia's door was closed, but on approach, we knew we were getting warmer. Georgia was smoking in her office! As much as the evidence pointed to this conclusion, I just couldn't quite bring myself to believe that this was actually happening, especially in a state where smoking is illegal in all restaurants and bars. I glanced into the office next to hers to see if there were windows in these offices. There were, so I thought she must be hanging out the window smoking and thinking she can get away with it without anybody noticing. But then I noticed that the windows were sealed. There was no way to open them. So, this woman is sitting in her office smoking, knowing that the only place for the smoke to go is into the rest of the office. I'm amazed that the fire alarm didn't go off, which would have been awesome, by the way. After several people reported this offense to the higher ups, the COO came by to let her know that smoking in the office is inappropriate behavior. Can you imagine having to even make that statement? Her excuse was that she was stuck on a phone call, and she just took one good drag and put it out. As much as this excuse may sound like it, Georgia is not a pre-teen. Sorry, but that blew my mind!</p>

<p>Today was mine and Jamie's second anniversary. (fanfare). We celebrated with brunch at the Four Seasons. This had sentimental significance for us, as this is where we stayed on our wedding night before leaving for Jamaica on our honeymoon. During our original stay there, we arrived at 8 pm and left the next morning at 5 am, so we didn't get to enjoy the gardens and fine dining. We knew we were in for a good meal when we realized that the person that arrived ahead of us was none other than Queen Latifah, recent star of Chicago and Bringing Down the House (that's what they call 'range' in the acting world). She didn't have a reservation, but that, of course, was no trouble. The hostess took us through the brunch buffet on the way to our table. I don't really remember everything that was available, but it was quite an extravaganza. I had waffles, lamb shank, watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, salad, some kind of egg on an english muffin, lemon chiffon, chocolate covered strawberries, and an apple tart, all topped off with a mimosa. Needless to say, it was a good meal, and no, I don't plan on eating dinner. Unless, of course, Jamie makes something. </p> After brunch, we headed to the ArcLight Cinema, where they still show movies in Cinerama. Jamie and I agreed that it was probably the nicest theater we had ever visited. It was spacious, clean, and new. Each theater had a digital read out letting you know how many minutes until the show started. We had reserved seats, because we bought our tickets online. They don't have advertising before the movie, just previews. But here's the kicker. I went to buy some candy for Jamie, and the attendant(?) told me that it was 'free popcorn day' and would I like some.

Yes.

So, she got me some popcorn, and it was a regular sized popcorn, not a dinky sized promotional 'free' popcorn. She also asked if I'd like butter on that.

Yes.

And would I like it layered in?

Absolutely.

The end result was probably the best popcorn I've ever had ever [sic]. So, my theater-going experience was one of my better ones, in spite of the fact that the movie was Johnny English. Mr. Bean, you are no Clouseau.