This was an interesting experience…
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We had dinner at “Renaissance” tonight. This is the restaurant at the Scientology Celebrity Center in Hollywood.
They don’t have a sign outside, so we just sort of wandered in and asked. There were lots of very friendly people in their faux-naval uniforms wandering about. One of them showed us the way to the restaurant. Inside, the place was nearly empty. I guess they don’t get a lot of people coming in off the street. The service was very pleasant and attentive. They didn’t try to get us to take a personality test or anything like that.
Outside the restaurant in the hotel hallway they had lots of displays about how wonderful Scientology is. And they had L.Ron Hubbard’s study preserved there, with a little velvet rope across the doorway.
The food was all right. Not bad, but not great. We’ve had better, but it was still a unique experience.
After this, we went to the Renberg Theater at the Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood to see Varla Jean Merman’s new show, “Under a Big Top”. As always, La Merm was hilariously great. We also bought her DVD video collection, and she signed it for us. We’ve seen her three times now, and she’s always great.
May 19th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
“They had L.Ron Hubbard’s study preserved there, with a little velvet rope across the doorway.”
They have those in all of their organizations. I had a friend who got married there once, and I attended the service and stayed the night in the hotel. It is pretty, but it did seem like the staff were sort of slaves, kind of cowering robots (no offense to them, I’m sure the environment instigates this). The Scientology service was bizarre – what should I have expected from religious vows written by a mediocre pulp science fiction writer?
You guys sound cool – I’d love to check out Varla Jean Merman’s show now, too. Keep it up! Peace, Phoenix