Clearwater Scientologist has a Great New Blog

Stan Dubin has a great new blog called a Fresh Opinion

He posts stories about the news and shows how aspects of the Scientology religion relate to these. But the difference between Stan's blog and that of many others is that he doesn't just watch what's going on, he's in there with solutions on making things better.

It's interesting but in Scientology the concept of making things better is really a part of your life. It's the living, breathing aspect of our religion.

There's a lot of great information on how to use Scientology to improve your life in the Scientology Handbook

Mythology of the Fort Harrison Hotel

Our very own Fort Harrison, part of the spiritual headquarters for the Scientology religion for 31 years, is part of the mythology of the Rolling Stones:

During the Rolling Stones' third tour of the United States in 1965, Richards came up with the guitar riff for the song. The Stones were staying at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida for part of their tour, and one night Richards suddenly woke up, turned on a tape recorder, and promptly played on his guitar the riff that opened "Satisfaction" before returning to bed. He would later describe it as: "...2 minutes of 'Satisfaction' and 40 minutes of me snoring."

Later, Richards brought it to the studio where the Stones were recording. Jagger took an immediate liking to the riff, but Richards was concerned that it sounded too much like Martha & The Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street". In an interview, Jagger later said that "I think Keith thought it was a bit basic. He was too close to it and just felt it was a silly kind of riff." Jagger proceeded to write up lyrics for the tune, trying to make a statement about the rampant commercialism that the British Stones had seen in America. Richards said of the songwriting process for "Satisfaction": "Mick wrote all of the words that say anything and I wrote the hook. I woke up in bed with this riff and I thought 'I've gotta put that down.'"

Friends on the Other Coast

Now that I live in LA I don't get to see my Clearwater friends nearly enough.

But just in the past 24 hours, a friend of mine who'd been living and working on Clearwater for the past 7 years moved back to LA. It was so great to see her. She hadn't changed at all (and she was nice enough to say that I hadn't either).

And then just now I got a call from another Clearwater friend and it was so good to hear from her.

So I guess I stay connected.

You run into all your friends in Clearwater

If you are a Scientologist and you are visiting or living in, you'll eventually run into all your friends here.

Okay. That's an exaggeration. But only just.

The funny thing is if you have been to lots of different Scientology churches, as I have. You see someone and you know you really like the person and "just saw them" know (or knew) him or her really well. But who is it? And then you realize that it's true you knew this person really well. You were roommates 25 years ago in England, or that person was your course supervisor in Copenhagen three years ago....

And another fantastic thing about being in Clearwater is that as the "mecca" of Scientology you get briefed by senior executives from all over the world. And if you plan your trip right you will even be here when David Miscavige acts as emcee for one of the international events that are held here, such as the celebration of the L. Ron Hubbard's birthday which is held in Clearwater every March.