Breakfast again at Chops by the amazing Atlantic while we discuss with the Marys the day’s activities. I will miss the view! And the service. With so much to choose from I tried almost everything.
I finished the book ‘Tom Cruise, An Unauthorized Biography’ by Andrew Morton, published in 2008, between last night and this morning. Out of its 323 pages a lot of it was dedicated to the history and evolution of Scientology, and Tom’s involvement in it. I have long been a Tom Cruise fan. I don’t really care what religion he practices, or for that matter, what religion anyone is.
It seems to me that the author thinks Scientology is out to take over the world, eradicate gays and psychologists, outlaw medicine for the mentally ill and physically ill etc. In general the author seems to think it is evil. It has long seemed to me that most religions are more about power than God, instigating more wars than anything else. They all have evangelical programs and most of them seem to demonize the opposition - religions that they don’t belong to. Morton refers to it as a cult, which indeed could describe most religions if you look up the definition in Webster’s Dictionary.
Tom is a gifted talented intense actor. I have seen just about every film he has been in and enjoyed all but one of them. His charisma is undeniable, so it’s not really a surprise that he has had multiple love interests. Who in Hollywood hasn’t? As far as people growing apart after marriage, that happens despite abilities and wealth. But Tom’s break ups, according to Morton, seem to be due solely to Tom’s religion - Scientology.
I am now acquainted with a host of new phrases like ‘supportive person declaration, Sea Org, Confusion and punishment, Operating Thetans and dropping the body… enough to intrigue me. I know research on the internet can be dangerous but I’ll be googling David Miscavige and Dianetics. I think Mom read that book when she was ill with cancer, thinking about alternatives to traditional religion and medicine, but maybe I am mistaken. At any rate, I’m not going to join, but I’m not going to bring in the SS either. I can’t imagine Morton would invent anything. According to him Germany and many other countries have taken steps to limit the impact of Scientology in their countries, comparing it to Hitler’s rise to power. Seems a little far fetched,
I enjoy anything that interests me enough to keep me awake at night.
Returned the book, returned the movie Moulin Rouge, went to a talk on the Apollo Voyages. A good reminder about what has been accomplished.
Kyle Knight and Misti, magic show from a few nights ago, taught the crowd a few magic tricks. We might be able to entertain the grandkids now. They swore us to secrecy, so despite the almost overwhelming desire to tell people, we can’t. Once they know the mystery is gone. Predictably, we bought the DVD.
One of our passengers, Ivan Trifonov from Vienna Austria, volunteered to talk about his hot balloon adventures. He just happened to have the power point and videos on his computer. Ivan was a chemical engineer for 25 years when he decided to go into the balloon flying business and has been doing that for 27 years. His wife and 3 children have also been involved in the enterprise. He has ballooned in Moscow, India, China, Japan, Jordan, Israel, across the Mediterranean Sea from Malaga Spain to Algeria. In the last case they refused to let him land so he had to land in the sea and nearly died. I think that would have persuaded me to look for other employment. The last video was about their trip to Antarctica in January of 2,000, where it can be -90 degrees centigrade, hostile environment, windy and isolated. He made the Guinness Records for being the first one to successfully complete a hot air balloon ride at the South Pole. He calls it polar ballooning. If you are going to the big balloon festival in Albuquerque he will be there.
When asked if he was going to retire he responded that he was retired. However when your vocation is your hobby, you never really stop it until you just can’t do it anymore.
Since I only got a couple of hours of sleep I actually had to surrender to my body and go to the room. We talked about a 3 AM swimming visit, but I slept right through it. Oh to be 16 again. Kidding. When I was 16 I was living in a 1 bedroom flat with my uncle vint, mom, dad and a rabid dog.
Anyway there is always tomorrow, until there isn’t.
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