From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #13 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Friday, April 14 2000 Volume 01 : Number 013 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 11:40:55 -0600 From: Scott and Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Michael COLLINGS I just found this in Michael Collings latest book, _Som Certaine Sonets_ (which contains his Taliesin/Joseph Smith poems): Michael R. Collings J-M Collings Handcrafted 1089 Sheffield Place Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-5353 805-496-8310 mrcolling@earthlink.net - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 11:40:55 -0600 From: Scott and Marny Parkin Subject: Re: [AML] Michael COLLINGS I just found this in Michael Collings latest book, _Som Certaine Sonets_ (which contains his Taliesin/Joseph Smith poems): Michael R. Collings J-M Collings Handcrafted 1089 Sheffield Place Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-5353 805-496-8310 mrcolling@earthlink.net - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 09:26:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Stacy Burton Subject: Re: [AML] Mothers > Nope. Nothing has changed. I've just noticed that in order to win the > mother of the year award, a woman has to do substantially more than be a > mother. She must do volunteer work for fifty hours a week as well. It > disturbs me that the one award supposedly given for good motherhood seems > primarily based on stuff outside of being a mother. Hmm. You and I appear to disagree, entirely, on this topic. Particularly, I disagree with the logic that being involved in one's community is "stuff outside of being a mother." The best parents in my neighborhood are involved in their children's lives both inside their houses and outside. This includes a degree of being involved in the community: supporting schools, attending local advisory board meetings when the agenda affects the neighborhood, participating in church groups, and so on. My own mother and grandmother certainly saw such activities as an intrinsic part of raising their children. I'm deeply grateful that they did. > In fact, the entire point of bringing this up on the list is that I really > regret that these faithful women are so seldom depicted in any form of > literature. I mean, contented people in general don't often find themselves > the subject of art, really, but couldn't they at least be a (small) part of > the picture? . . . > When reading fiction (or attending plays) I can't remember a single > depiction of a mother like I've described the two most important mothers in > my life. This gets to the old question of why art seldom depicts people who face no difficulties or conflicts in life. You haven't much material for an interesting plot--nice person gets up, has good day, goes to bed; nice person gets up the next day, has another good day, goes to bed; and so on--that's why. One of the richest fictional portrayals of a mother with a large family is that of Mrs. Ramsay in Virginia Woolf's _To the Lighthouse_, set just prior to the First World War. Mrs. Ramsay loves her children and husband and devotes her life to theirs. Because the novel gives the reader immediate access to her thoughts, readers know that she finds her life work, but deeply satisfying work. Among the reasons there are few contemporary examples, I think, is the fact that very few women have the large families that you describe. One rich and moving recent portrayal, though, is Anne Tyler's _Ladder of Years_. The main character, Delia, like Mrs. Ramsay, has devoted her life with satisfaction to those of her family. She's done this so entirely that they barely see her. When this recognition comes, at a point when her children are all but grown up, it is so unsettling that she walks away for a while to figure some things out. Both they and she learn something about love, identity, and family life in the process. Stacy Burton - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 16:52:33 -0600 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] Donny as Joseph Eric R. Samuelsen: "That said, I must once again register my utter bewilderment over the power that JATATD holds over LDS audiences. I like it. I think it's campy and fun, and makes for a pleasant, lightweight evening in the theatre. But it's just nothing special... Are we so starved for 'clean family entertainment' that we'll put up with absolutely anything? (And given the Joan Collins costume, we should definitely put quotation marks around the words 'clean family entertainment.')" I have a different take on why LDS audiences like "Joseph." It's not that they are starved for "clean family entertainment." They're starved for _good_ entertainment. There's piles and piles of clean entertainment available--all faith-affirming, all severely didactic, all super-sentimental. "Joseph" is just plain fun. No moralizing, no demands on one's character. The telling of an Old Testament story with no moral browbeating. Just good entertainment. How could you get more refreshing than that for an LDS audience? More evidence that the LDS market is ready for good art, if only we can help them past their suspicion of LDS-produced good art that doesn't moralize and faith-affirm. "But it was interesting to hear Donny introduce the piece. Donny Osmond carries with him a certain cultural cachet, and to hear him introduce, in very positive terms, a production of Superstar struck me as somewhat risky. Good for him, I say. But it was a bit surprising." Not that I've paid that much attention, so I may not know what I'm talking about. But I get the feeling Donny is going overboard in the other direction--trying to compensate for his younger years of squeaky-clean image. What was wrong with those years? He was a kid, thinking in kid-sized black and white concepts. The Osmonds were a nice, wholesome representation of Mormons in a day when Mormons were weird or utterly unknown. Donny might want to act more grown-up now, but I don't think denying his early days or what he represented then is a wise choice. Again, I'm not sure that's what he's doing, but I get the impression sometimes that he might be. I caught Donny's appearance in "Joseph" when it came to Kingsbury Hall. It was a fine performance, and Donny did great. But I came to the performance with some baggage. The first time I saw "Joseph" was in the Promise Valley Theater when the Butler stake (I think) produced it. A stake production, you understand, so I wasn't expecting much beyond the roadshow level of quality. The production was fantastic, astounding, wonderfully done. Great scenery, fine costumes, utterly beautiful singing. The Elvis impersonator was perfect. I was blown away. The performance was magical. A few months later I watched Donny Osmond's "Joseph." Very professionally done, but the magic was missing for me. You expect professional quality from a professional production, so it's no big deal when you get it. It's just not as magical as when amateurs pull of something great. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== Read "How I as a crazy high school kid wrote an opera about Joseph Smith" at: http://www.wwno.com/gpjs/howi.htm ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 12:13:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Darlene Young Subject: Re: [AML] Lecture today I'm really sorry I missed the Maxwell lecture on Card today. If anyone attends, could you write up a review and post it here, or at least send it to me? Thank you. ===== Darlene Young [MOD: My moderator note this morning should have said aml-list now has half a _day_ lead time. Often it's more like a day or even more.] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 12:08:58 -0600 From: Mary Jane Jones Subject: RE: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ >Of course, I haven't seen the movie (God's Army) yet. Interesting that the nationwide >release includes nowhere east of Utah. From what I've heard, though, I'll pick it up >when it's on video. God's Army will open in the East. We're getting there, slowly but surely. There are no solid release dates yet, but we are planning on opening in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Atlanta and Boston before the end of the summer. Anyone in any of those places who would like to help see the film make it there, well, we could use all the help we can get! Video/DVD won't be released for some time. Richard Dutcher would like to see the English-speaking world have the film in theaters first... Mary Jane Jones mjjones@xelent.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 14:30:22 -0600 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Donny as Joseph > Not that I've paid that much attention, so I may not know what I'm > talking about. But I get the feeling Donny is going overboard in the > other direction--trying to compensate for his younger years of > squeaky-clean image. What was wrong with those years? He was a kid, > thinking in kid-sized black and white concepts. The Osmonds were a nice, > wholesome representation of Mormons in a day when Mormons were weird or > utterly unknown. That's what they appeared as. The reality was something quite different. Have you heard of Stage Mother? Make that a Stage Father and mulitply it by ten and you've got the kind of family Donny and Marie grew up in. It is no accident that she can't seem to stay married and Donny is acting-out. > Donny might want to act more grown-up now, but I don't > think denying his early days or what he represented then is a wise > choice. Again, I'm not sure that's what he's doing, but I get the > impression sometimes that he might be. He's trying to find the real him, not the carefully cultivated personna his father wanted to portray to the world. Thom Duncan - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 15:31:07 -0600 From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: Re: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Singled Out_ > It has proved to be an interesting experiment. The printers here > are not used to producing mass market paperbacks, Looks like a MMP > which would have been a bit cheaper, but which > have the usual problems with the spine breaking apart. > They tried to give us what we wanted, but being used > to a little better quality, what we got was something > a little different from what we expected. The paper, though > newsprint, is a little better quality--thinner, but stronger-- > and the binding is done with scoring along the front and > back covers to allow the book to be opened without > damaging the spine, which is bound with more glue than is > used in most mass market paperbacks. The result is a > book that's about half as thick as we expected with a > deeper "gutter" (the side of the pages that attach to > the spine) than our typesetter planned on. That's all well and good, but it looks and pretty much feels like a MMP. So I was very shocked at the price -- 8.95. I'll tell you that the *only* reasons I was willing to pay that much for two copies of the book are -- 1. I loved the play 2. I love Eric 3. I happened to be feeling rich that day. That don't happen much. 4. I want stories like this to succeed. > We're interested in what you all think of the book, not only > Eric's wonderful story and prose, but the book > itself as a value. This will help refine our efforts in the future. Well, I just answered the second half of that question. Right now I'm too busy being in plays to read anything, but, the woman who received the second copy as a gift has read it and LOVED it. I may buy more copies in the future as gifts, but you should know that I feel like if I'm going to be paying nearly trade size prices, I'd just as soon pay that much and get a better looking book. J. Scott Bronson--The Scotted Line "World peace begins in my home" - -------------------------------------------------------- We are not the acolytes of an abstruse god. We are here to entertain--Keith Lockhart - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 12:10:40 -0700 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ I talked to Richard Dutcher yesterday for an upcoming newspaper article, and I mentioned two of the things that have gone around recently about "God's Army": Why the ocean baptism when plenty of fonts were available, and why the VW bus? Here's what he said. VW bus: "I'm being true to my own experiences as a missionary [in Mexico]. We had an old ice cream truck we drove around. A VW bus would have been a luxury. It's funny, because every once in a while, I hear people talking about the movie, and one will say, 'That's not how it was in my mission,' and before I can even say anything, someone else will say, 'Oh, that's EXACTLY how it was in my mission!'" Ocean baptisms: "Two reasons. The more important point, it was aesthetically a better choice. It looks better on film. And it is realistic, even in places where there are baptismal fonts. John Pentecost, who plays the mission president, is a convert, and he was baptized in the ocean in Los Angeles." One should bear in mind: No one, least of all Dutcher, ever said he was making a documentary. He said it would be realistic and true to the experience of missionaries -- but that still allows for some artistic license. And in this case, both elements seem to be somewhat realistic anyway, though perhaps not commonplace. I also asked him about showing priesthood blessings on screen, and how some have criticized him for that. His response: "I disagree, all across the board. I see the point that people make on that, and I thought about that when I went in. I didn't go into this with any kind of frivolous attitude. I prayed about these things before I did them, so I went into it confident about them. I don't think it makes things more 'common'; it's a celebration of our faith, and our priesthood, and what we do. I think the same scene [I don't know which of the two priesthood-blessing scenes he's referring to here, but the thoughts probably apply to both] in a different movie or handled by different filmmakers might have been inappropriate. But in the movie, with what I was trying to do, I think it's appropriate. I think most people take it in the spirit it's intended. I don't think it should become the practice, but I don't have any rule book saying do this or don't do that. Personally, I was following the Spirit, those are the rules I was following, not any rule book from the Church Office Building, because there isn't one. It's touchy, and I'm sensitive to that. People say, 'Isn't that sacred?' and I say, 'Well, no.' The things that are truly sacred -- temple ordinances, we don't show anyone in their garments, or Elder Dalton being dressed in his temple robes, those things truly are sacred. Blessings aren't sacred. They might be private, but isn't that why we go to movies? To see the private lives of characters? It's all in the tone." I didn't get a chance to ask him why Elder Dalton dumped his pills down the sink. Maybe next time.... Eric D. Snider - -- *************************************************** Eric D. Snider www.ericdsnider.com "Filling all your Eric D. Snider needs since 1974." - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 18:2:45 -0600 From: "Darvell" Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ Eric D. Snider (eric@ericdsnider.com) >I talked to Richard Dutcher yesterday for an upcoming newspaper >article... >[Dutcher said:] "We don't show anyone in their garments, or Elder Dalton being dressed in >his temple robes, those things truly are sacred." >Eric D. Snider These are two interesting points that my wife and I noticed but haven't brought up yet. From my experience, missionaries generally don't wear pajamas (or in Dalton's case, OR scrubs). My wife asked about the temple robes and I whispered to her, "You can't show that in a movie!" She nodded in agreement after a second's thought. I think he did very well in portraying the spiritual in a film and found his artistic expressions at least interesting. I find his answer to my VW bus question acceptable, tho I still find it a little strange. The more that I learn about this film, the more I am impressed. Darvell Darvell Hunt, Las Vegas, NV - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 17:20:01 -0600 From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Singled Out_ - -----Original Message----- From: J. Scott Bronson To: aml-list@lists.xmission.com Date: Thursday, April 13, 2000 4:20 PM Subject: Re: [AML] SAMUELSEN, _Singled Out_ >I may buy more copies in >the future as gifts, but you should know that I feel like if I'm going to >be paying nearly trade size prices, I'd just as soon pay that much and >get a better looking book. Spoken like a true Scot (I don't know that you are, but I am). I fully agree. Had we known that the paper would be thinner (and denser) than we expected, making the book half as thin as we thought it would be, we would probably have tried to price it little lower, though it would have been tough given the fact it still has 368 pages in it! We're already acting to correct some of these problems with the next book, but honestly, it's tough when you're not producing 100,000 at a shot to get the price down much more and still make a profit. But it IS good! My daughter-in-law, who reads tons of fiction and is our toughest critic, read it in less than a day and also LOVED it! We're so glad to hear this kind of feedback. Eric deserves it!!! Richard Hopkins - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 19:40:48 EDT From: ViKimball@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Donny as Joseph In a message dated 4/13/2000 5:19:47 PM EST, tduncan@zfiction.com writes: << The Osmonds were a nice, > wholesome representation of Mormons in a day when Mormons were weird or > utterly unknown. >> I think this implies that Mormons are no longer weird. Well, I know a few who. . . er. . . well, nevermind. Violet Kimball - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 20:03:44 -0600 From: "Richard C. Russell" Subject: Re: [AML] MN Dialogue Starts Website, Resumes Publication Neither one worked for me. ************************************************* Richard C. Russell lderlore@xmission.com SLC UT www.leaderlore.com Ask about Leader Lore, a Leadership Newsletter. "There is never the last word, only the latest." ************************************************* - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 21:47:29 -0600 From: Kathleen Woodbury Subject: Re: [AML] Donny as Joseph At 11:44 PM 4/10/00 -0700, Eric D. Snider wrote: >Any nominations, anyone? Any shows that are short, fun, uplifting, >have potential for children onstage, and are appealing to entire >families? A CHRISTMAS CAROL? (A bit of a stretch on the "fun" part, perhaps.) Or are Christmas shows in a class by themselves? Does it have to be a musical? Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury workshop@burgoyne.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #13 *****************************