Sports Wrap Up: Oh, the Drama!

I don't usually write about sports unless it intersects with Hollywood so here goes...

NBA B-BALL:
The Lakers have gone Hollywood and it has affected their game! Kobe Bryant got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Pau Gasol is acting in TV forensic shows and Lamar Odlum is in reality show with one of the Kardashians. Now rumors of wife and girl friend fall outs abound. The rumors may or may not be true but perhaps all this "drama" did lead to the LA Lakers being unfocused and running out of gas, eventually getting them swept: So, no fairy tale ending for P.J. Maybe time to shake everything up on this team--

With Spurs and Celtics out that leaves juggernaut Miami with Lebron, D-Wade and Borsch to dominate. If they win they vindicate Lebron's choice on his way to his first ring and a building of a dynasty. Lebron has his own problems (mommie drama)and ego( a TV show for your announcement- really) but he looks like a nice enough guy so all the hate coming from Cleveland at the beginning of the season actually had me praying for the big guy.

Not only is LeBron a great player, he also has an animated TV show on the air and he is a very good pitchman for various products. As Kobe ages, LeBron will be the face of the league for the future so he will be playing basketball or peddling products on TV for years to come.

Speaking of pitchmen, Shaq looked old and hobbled and barely played for Celtics in their lossing effort but he is still one of my favs. Will he retire this season? If he does it will be with a stellar career, 4 teams (LA, Miami, Phoenix, Celtics) and 4Championship rings.

Dallas is looking good but I'll take a wait and see approach to predicting the NBA Championship finalists.

Questions:

Will there be an NBA lock out?

AND

Will they eject players for saying the other "f" word?


FOOTBALL:NFL Lockout threatens season!

BASEBALL:
Dodger's Ethier (a face made for Hollywood if I ever saw one ;) gets hit record with 30 consecutive but broken in Mets game.

HOCKEY:
A player did a serious hat trick in a play-off game on 5/14!

Update: 5-26-11
Lakers new coach is Mike Brown who was also LeBron's old coach from Cleveland Cavaliers.

Resurrection Sunday and Baptisms!

I placed my green "He is Risen!" paper cross that I'd crafted on the outside of my apartment door then I raced to make it to church. I was late due to detours along Hollywood (commemorating the Armenian genocide) but I finally made it.

I entered the church in extremely high spirits as today was my first Resurrection Sunday (Easter) service at Ecclesia church and what beautiful service it was! The wooden cross was back in its place near the rafters and Pastor Joseph finished up the Tougher Love series by read various scriptures. He also gave his personal testimony about his struggles and his coming to faith or as he said it “coming from death and bondage in to life”. He invited all of us to choose to do the same.

He made the lovely analogy that Baptism is a public statement that you have chosen to follow Christ almost like a wedding ring shows to all that the person is married. Pastor then called for anyone wanting to be baptised to join the others lining up for baptism and/or prayer. Pastor Joseph also joked that so many people were baptised in the earlier service that he was now soaking wet.

They had a new baptismal tank draped in black and surrounded by a line of potted white lilies of the valley flowersin pots which were wrapped with a deep magenta colored metallic paper. The base of the stage and the foyer also had matching potted flowers.

Greg and the praise team lead us in singing wonderful praise and worship songs and the baptisms began. The were 5 initially scheduled then another 5-6 more made the choice to be baptised just that morning. So at least 11 people came to Christ! Some were new to Christ while others were long time Christians who were baptised as infants but all are welcomed to the body of Christ. As usual, I could not contain myself and I stood and clapped, whooped, cried and yelled “Hallelujah!” for everyone single one.

So many people were queueing up for baptism that Pastor Joseph asked the praise band to play more music for us to sing to as the pre-baptised changed into their baptism clothed. Pastor eventually had to ask us to sit because we had been standing so long during the baptisms. It was so beyond lovely and a blessing
to be there to see these baptisms and the Holy Spirit was definitely present there.

Christ is Lord and He is Risen!

Holy Week In Hollywood 2011

Mon 4-18-11 Passover

I spent Passover reading about the First Passover with Moses, the Israelites and the blood of the Passover Lamb in the Book of Exodus . I also spent some time reviewing Jewish Passover (Pasach) traditions (bitter herbs etc.) and how they are related to the First Passover.

4-21-11 Good Thursday

I spent Good Thursday reading the accounts of the Last Supper and Christ's Crucifixion in the books of the Gospels. I found many gospel programs on TV that were also reviewing the scriptures so it was a good study. I looked up the meaning of Maundy Thursday (another name for Holy Thursday) and fell in love with some of the Medieval traditions associated with it.

As a result, I couldn't resist watching to see if Queen Elizabeth of England would keep with tradition and hand out gifts to the poor or washing their feet. She did meet with some of her lesser (commoner) subjects but there was no gift giving or foot washing done. As it was the Queen's birthday, too I decided to let her slide (plus , she is planning a Royal Wedding-lol).

I also started my 3 day pulse fast and did more soul searching and praying. I had already given up chips and salty snacks for the entire season of Lent but it seemed right to avoid all meat and dairy for those 3 days that Christ was on The Cross.


4-22-11 Good Friday

Tonight's Good Friday service was amazing! Ecclesia's The large wooden cross that usually hangs high in the ceiling of the theater was now on the floor and leaning against the foot of the stage. The stage lights were down and the cross was back lit with floor lights and lighted candles were placed on a small table in front of it.

Pastor Joseph, the elders and the prayer team read from the scriptures about Christ's Crucifixion. The Gospels of Luke, John, Mark and Matthew were all read. Psalm 22 and Isaiah Chap 53 (by his stripes we are healed) were read also and one candle was put out after each reading. In between the readings, we confessed that we are sinners and not worthy but that Christ is our only hope.

Soon all the candles were extinguished and the room was dark. As an elder, Kevin, read the scripture and said "Crucify him! Crucify him!" with a booming voice I actually felt chills (boy does the theater have wonderful acoustics and Ecclesia has a wonderful production staff). A female from the prayer team read the scriptures describing how Christ's body was broken on The Cross and I again
felt physically affected.

I was already holding back tears when Pastor Joseph announced that we should consider that we are at a funeral then 4 men picked up the cross like if it was a casket. They placed the cross on their shoulders and bore it outside like if they were mourning pallbearers.

Then we sang praise and worsip songs about the Cross like Jesus Paid It All with heartbreaking lyrics “sin has left a crimson stain but He washed me white as snow” www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix7LNWzfFKU and Oh, the Wonderful Cross with lyrics “Oh, the wonderful cross! Bids me come and die, And find that I may truly live” www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sKcw9_PQYA

Pastor Joseph prayed over us then he encouraged us to spend Saturday in seclusion, as the Disciples did after the cruxifiction. Seclusion not out of fear as they did but out of sacrifice like secluding yourself from Facebook etc. Pastor Joseph also asked us to exit mindful of the solemness of the night.

We exited the room solemnly, some like myself, in tears. We passed vases of flowers at the entrance (almost like sympathy flowers), just as someone attending a funeral would. There was great grief at our loss, with reflection of the life of our passed loved one and with the hope and confidence of us meeting again. It was all wonderful and soul inspiring!

To God be the glory that He gave His only begotten Son for us on The Cross and may Ecclesia and its leadership and members always be blessed for the amazing job they did tonight!

Sat 4-23-11

I Spent Saturday mostly in seclusion as I continued my praying and fasting. I was also commercial TV free and almost Facebook free but I'm not that into Facebook so that wasn't that hard :D

Palm Sunday At Ecclesia

4-17-11
The Palm Sunday service at Ecclesia was lovely and all about the work of the cross. Ecclesia's regular guest speaker Bryan Belknap, did the sermon and he drove home the point that as good as some of us are (good boys like himself and good girls like me :D), we are still undeserving of Christ's work on the cross. We sinners are all in the same boat because we (and all of scuzzy Hollywood) are all seeped in sin and unworthy of His sacrifice. Bryan asked the question, “Will we (the body of Christ at Ecclesia) give up our fleshly ways and take up our cross (whatever that cross may be) and follow Jesus? We've read in the scriptures how the apostles, disciples and 1st century Christians did it but would we really do it in these modern times when some view God as irrelevant?” My own flesh wars with me constantly about this but we must tame the flesh man within us and do what Christ would have us do.

Bryan put this in a personal perspective as it was announced that he would be leaving to serve in another state. He told us that he would miss Ecclesia terribly but that the Lord had put it in his heart to do this. He even joked that the Lord did everything but appeared in his living room to confirm it. I myself had a similar experience so it was funny that he shared his moment.

Bryan has been a writer here in L.A. for years with some level of success, so moving to another state outside of the entertainment biz and L.A. might affect his career. He shared that he was also lead by God to move to LA 15 years ago and he prayed to find a good church here. God blessed him with the fellowship of Christians at Ecclesia for nearly 7 years and I know God will bless Bryan for choosing to follow Him once more.

Bryan was one of the first people that I met at Ecclesia and I found him to be an easy-going open and approachable type of guy. And I talked to him a lot usually after church service, faith in film events or at the community meetings on Thursday. We'd talk about everything from the Bible scriptures he quoted in his guest sermons to children and child care (he was in charge of child care services at Ecclesia). We also talked a bit about the craft and business of writing movies (he arranged the Re-Imagine series for writers etc).

We also talked about writing books( he's an author of the Blockbuster Movie Illustrations series (3 books) and each of these books include over 100 movie clips used to help illustrate Biblical principles to teens). And we talked a lot about movies, films and the interaction of faith as he was in charge of the Cinemiklings group at the church. So you can tell that I'll really miss him.

Pastor Joseph had us say our good-byes to Bryan at the send of the service. Bryan got choked up a bit then joked that he had promised not to cry. We all laughed but I must admit that I shed a few tears myself and I saw some others tearing up, too.

Go with God, Bryan, and we wish you and yours the best!

Re-Imagine Hope For Hollywood

Sat April 9th 2011

I attended a conference at Ecclesia called Re-Imagining Hope with theologian, author and film buff Dr. Johnston from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of 3 books on faith and film, (Reel Spirituality, Useless Beauty etc.) and he does many seminars on the Christian faith as it is depicted in Hollywood films. He encouraged us faithful writers, entertainers and artists to keep our faith by showing clips of pivotal and hopeful scenes in many notable films (like the nun's letter scene in About Schmidt), so that we could re-imagine hope For Hollywood not only for ourselves as entertainers but for our viewers, too.

He used quotes from the hopeful book of Ecclesiastes and how it relates to us today. Then he encouraged us to seek the hope of the Lord that results from the drama and the reality in our performances and products. After that he did a Q&A where I confessed that I like to write escapism films because drama and reality is just too real(lol). Many actors asked how to keep hope alive as a Christian in Hollywood when you are asked to play parts and do certain things on film that are contrary to your faith. Fuller gave the example of Renee Russo (a born-again Christian) and how she handled her role and its required nudity in the movie, The Thomas Crown Affair.

Then we grabbed lunch and we attended break out sessions with other Christian writers, directors, producers, actors and comedians in our respective disciplines. My first choice was the writer's group but the visual artist group was my second choice but everyone got their first choices.

The writer's group had paid TV staff writers and novelists and it was very informative. Then we had a wrap up session with Dr. Johnston and any last questions or concerns were addressed. Johnston announced the Reel Spirituality conference for 2011 called Death Of The Critic with a panel of 8 film critics, producers, ministers and professor Johnston, all weighing in on faith and the rise of millions of film critics via the internet and what it means to the industry. They will also provide lunch and screen an award winning short.

Reel Spirituality Conference
Sat April 2nd 2011
Fuller Theological Seminary
Time: 8 - 2:30 pm
www.reelspirituality.org

R.I.P. Sidney Lumet

I'm so sad to hear about Sidney Lumet's passing last week. His movies really spoke to me and he was one of the people who stoked my desire to be in the movie industry. 12 Angry Men, Murder On The Orient Express (I had a copy of this on VHS that I played often - spectacular cast!), Serpico (my first glimpse of Al Pacino – amazing!) and Dogs Day Afternoon. And how about Network? It was so intense and (dare I say) prophetic. And yes, I did go to the porch as kids and scream that classic Peter Finch line, " I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!!!!". And then there's, The Wiz, (a classic in black cinema) known for MJ's first film role . Wow. I can literally tell you where I was and who I was with when I saw his movies.

I'm now brushing off my copy of Lumet's book, 'Making Movies', which is a great chronicling of how his movies were made, movie by movie and set by set (including camera angles and number of takes). The book was a hard read at first because I knew nothing about making movies but now it's all sinking in. I also didn't know that he started his career as an actor, which explains his touch with the talented casts he directed. He'll be greatly missed but it's encouraging that his daughters are in the industry, too.

R.I.P. Mr. Lumet and may God bless you.

The Japan Disaster and Hollywood

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit Japan 3/11/11 at 7pm Pacific time causing large damage in the most earthquake prepared country in the world. The earthquake was quickly followed by a huge tsunami in the coastal Sendai that caused cataclysmic damage despite an advance nation-wide tsunami warning system. Large fires quickly broke out in the area and power and heat blackouts worsened the condition of survivors as the temperature dropped below freezing. The U.S. military sent support ships filled with supplies, aid and soldiers and relief agencies like the Red Cross, NGOs and many other western nations also arrived to help find those lost and to help survivors.

Unbelievably, the back-up cooling system of Japan's nuclear plants did not kick in resulting in over-heating of the core rods a mere 2 days after the earthquake and tsunami. There are increasing reports of release of nuclear radiation in the area and a few nations recalled their relief teams for fear of exposure. Videos and pictures from the disaster shows wide-spread and heart broken devastation and reports of 1800 confirmed dead and at least 10,000 people missing.

Amazingly, the Japanese people have lived up to their reputation as being a people who can endure quietly but I can see some cracks beginning especially with the strong ongoing after-shocks, the 1,000 dead that washed up on the shores and the growing nuclear situation as more nuclear plants failed or were aflame. I am praying very hard for the Japanese people and I am hopeful that every American give a strong Christian response of love, prayer and aid/financial giving to support the Japanese people. Certainly the numbers of those affected in Japan pales in comparison to the horror that was (and to some point still is) the Haiti earthquake disaster, but with nearly half a million people displaced, the growing nuclear threat and the vast infra-structure rebuilding task ahead, Japan and the 5th greatest world/national economy could be in serious crisis for years to come.


We at Ecclesia are praying for the Holy Spirit to comfort and strengthen the Japanese people during this time and the church leadership is praying about what the church's official response would be. Many Japanese Christians, churches and International Christian Missionaries are playing an important role in the rescue and recovery process and many are reporting a rise in spiritual reflection and requests for prayer. The Baptist Press reports the baptism of Saito and his wife, a recent Japanese Christian convert, one week after the disaster.
http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=34891

California's Response:
Here in Hollywood, we prepared for tsunami effects that traveled all the way from Japan through the Pacific. Some damage was seen in Hawaii and in coastal areas of California but only to a small extent. However, recent rumors of radiation traveling here has led to a run on potassium iodide pills. Also, questions about the seismic safety of California's nuclear plants have come up as California and Japan both havelarge earthquake faults. As usual, everyone reminded us that "the big one" is about due for us so we must be prepared.

Hollywood's Response:
Entertainment industry wide, national and local news reporters raced to Japan to cover the story as reports of Sony studios stocks falling admidst the world-wide stock market fall. Many stars were in Japan during the earthquake and tweeted about their experiences as they made it back to home soil. Some comedians and singers in L.A. are doing shows to raise money for Japan but reports are coming in that other actors and entertainers got into deep water for insensitive comments about the tradedy.

UPDATE:
Salt in the Wounds:
While many in Hollywood sent their prayers and support to the Japanese people, ascorbic comedian, Gilbert Godfrey, lost his job as the Aflac duck after tweeting insensitive comments about the Japan disaster on the social network site Aflac does most of it's business in Japan so the company gave a strong response to the comments. Rapper, 50 cents, also put in his malacious 2 cents worth in a twitter post that insulted women and the Japanese situation.

On the scripted side of the bi, the NBC TV show, The Event, returned to NBC's line up with a story line of nuclear plant disaster in California that hit a little too close to home for my liking. Some movies due to film in Japan have been placed on hold for the time being.

Filming:
On hold/filming on location
Studio:
Fox
Wolverine
The movie, Hereafter, closed its run in Japan b/c of opening tsunami scene
Sony
Disney
Disney store sales and Tokyo Disneyland revenue fell

International box office sales have fallen everywhere but especially in Japan, as expected


sources:
deadline.com
Hollywood reporter