Hollywood

We went to church this morning because it's Sunday and both of us were craving Church. We went to the Presbyterian church just up the road from our hostel. They had a big sign out the front telling us "It's ok to come in sandals, he did". So I felt pretty comfortable not dressing up. Unfortunately I was the only guy there not in a collared shirt. Everyone was looking shmick in their Sunday best.

The service was pretty unimpressive. It was a special Independence day service. The kid's talk was an explanation of what the American flag stands for, and throughout the service there was no sermon or Bible, just a bunch of pre-organised people talking about why they're proud to be American. No one really mentioned Jesus in any meaningful fashion. The only time the gospel was mentioned was in the songs we sang. They band were pretty good thought.

It upset me. I go to church to celebrate Jesus. We should spend our time talking about the one who is greater than any nation. The one who gives true freedom. The one superpower who rules with true justice, mercy and compassion. I'm all for celebrating national holidays in church. I'm not for making church about your nation.

But, like I said, the band was good.

We went to Hollywood today. I wanted to see the Graumann's Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood sign. I saw both.

Hollywood is strange. Especially Hollywood Boulevard. It's a whole street full of tacky shops, bad museums, and over sized cinemas. The street is filled with people doing bad impressions of characters from movies. The whole thing was just kind of tacky. I love movies, but I can't say what I saw of Hollywood impressed me. We saw the Kodak theatre where they have the Oscars. It turns out the red carpet for the Oscars runs right through a shopping mall.

What a strange place.

We went and saw The Taking of Pelham 123 in the Chinese theatre. It's an impressive theatre. I liked it a lot. The film was fun, especially as it's all set in New York, so we got to see all the places we were at last week. I was happy we went there.

Then it was off to find the Hollywood sign. We wound our way through the Hollywood hills till we got to a really good spot to see it. I loved seeing the sign. I've seen it so many times in Australia on TV, in books, on film. And I got to see it in real life. That was cool.

Still if I ever become a famous movie star, I think I'll live in New York.

Tonight we headed off to go to Church at the Crystal Cathedral because I wanted to go to a mega-church, but by the time we had driven to the other side of LA we had to buy petrol, were running too late to get to church on time, so we just drove back to the Hostel. It was a shame. But maybe tonight's church wouldn't have been any better than this morning's.

Now I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we get a VIP tour of Warner Bros studios. That I am very excited about. Plus we're off to Medieval Times for dinner. What a wonderful way to end a holiday!