10:35 p.m. - Weds 2/18/04
The Last Temptation Of Jim

(A slight correction to my last entry--"Sipowicz" doesn't slap people around in the squad room on Blue; he slaps people around in the interrogation room.)

I was going to go the movies today, the first time this year (The Cooler is now playing at the Los Feliz 3), but it ended up raining all afternoon.

Welcome to my weekend...

Once it started looking like my afternoon at the movies was going to be called on account of rain, I figured this would be when I'd get a page from JS about an audition tomorrow.

And sure enough, I got the page around 5:00--I have an audition tomorrow at Westside Casting (For Nordea, a Scandanavian bank). But it's at 12:30, so I should have all kinds of time to get there, be dazzling, get back home, then catch my movie later in the afternoon.

And of course, once I realized the audition wouldn't infringe on my movie-going, I started getting excited about it (It's been a very slow month so far).

(A Scandanavian bank...wouldn't it be cool if I booked the gig, and it shot in Denmark or Sweden?)

Speaking of JS, I had a meeting with him yesterday morning (I had asked if I could talk to him about some "career matters").

We talked for a little over an hour, on a variety of career-related topics--headshots, callbacks, voiceovers, whether I should go "financial core" once I join Sag, etc and so on--and when we were done, I felt as if I'd gotten some good info.

At one point, he told me something, almost as an aside, that definitely fell under the heading of "Things I Really Like To Hear": MaryClare Sweeters, the casting director for the Hyundai spot I did, called JS about me, saying "He's good" (When JS said "I know", she apparently replied, "No, I mean he's very good").

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the fuss was about, but I'm glad she was impressed, and glad she felt so strongly about it that she told JS.

Seems like another sign there might be a future for me in this game...

Weighed myself today, and was disappointed that I didn't lose any weight this past week.

I don't think I did as well with the eating this week, because I let a couple days go by where I didn't have any food in the house.

I know better. But at least I didn't gain any weight. And I have a feeling my next weigh-in is going to be more to my liking.

I've been following, with some interest, the story of all the gay marriages being performed in San Francisco.

A couple days back, I read an article on the CNN website, accompanied by a photo of these two 70-something lesbians who were, I think, the very first couple to be married.

As I looked at the photo, I thought "How the hell does these two old women getting married harm anyone...?". They love each other, they've probably been a couple as long as I've been alive, and just like any other two people in love, they want to get married.

And who am I, or anyone else, to say they can't?

Something like 38 states have laws against gay marriage, and I just don't get it--How is that "equal protection under the law"? How is it not blatant discrimination?

Banning gay marriages is, it seems to me, a religious belief--"The Bible says homosexuality is a sin"--made into law. And last I knew, we don't live in a theocracy.

Not yet, anyway...

In any case, I applaud what the Mayor of San Francisco has done. I only hope other politicians and lawmakers will now have the courage to do what's right, even if it's unpopular (According to polls, the majority of Americans don't approve the idea of gay marriages).

While I don't know if I'm actually going to see the movie, I find the controversy around Mel Gibson's "Passion" really interesting.

I've never really understood people hating jews because "Jews killed Christ".

I'm not trying to be a wiseass here, but didn't somebody have to kill him? I mean, in order for their to be a religion based around God sacrificing his son for our sins?

And the Romans were the ones in power at the time, so how come you never hear people calling Italians "Christ-killers"?

And isn't hating anyone somewhat anti-Christian in the first place? Whether they killed Christ or not?

I don't know if Gibson's movie is "anti-semitic" or not--though the recent "Newsweek" cover story seemed to suggest that it is--but I will say I have a certain qualified admiration for what this crazy nutjob has done; He had to know he was in for a storm of protest, not to mention the potential damage to his career from people viewing him as a religious wacko, but he's spent a lot of money and time to express this obviously heartfelt vision of his.

I think the "controversy" is real, but the more cynical part of me is thinking they also know they have a tough sell on their hands, and are drumming up an audience any way they can (In addition to the charges of anti-semitism, there's also been a lot of press about the graphic violence; apparently, Gibson doesn't skimp on depicting Jesus's torment).

It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out...

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