From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #789 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 Wednesday, July 31 2002 Volume 01 : Number 789 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 08:27:33 -0700 From: The Laird Jim Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Utopias on 7/26/02 3:54 PM, Thom Duncan at ThomDuncan@prodigy.net wrote: > Have you ever actually had to accept Church welfare? I have and I don't > mind admitting that, should the need ever arise again, I would much prefer > selling my organs on the black market than to ever so humiliate myself and > my family by accepting assistance from the Church. Good Grief! I have needed assistence but never took any--but I have worked at the other end. Your Bishop and RS Pres are WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG. When my mom was a RS Pres when I was a kid she wouldn't tell anybody who she was working with and that's the way it's supposed to be. I've been up to my eyebrows on the distribution end and it's supposed to handled with discretion. There's a whole manual on how not to let the cat out of the bag. Pride is the source of all evil, no doubt. Jim Wilson aka The Laird Jim - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 13:48:26 -0400 From: Tony Markham Subject: Re: [AML] "Choose the Rock" Some time back, when the list was spinning a thread called "Censoring Ourselves," I posted how I'd just had enough of sitting quietly and had decided to speak up and the result was that now we have good discussions in our branch. Clearly I was asking for trouble...last week we got a new missionary from Provo where his dad is a BYU professor who simply freaked out. He sort of publicly said that I must not have a testimony. Sigh. So it is with fear and trembling that I share that in our little branch, there is such a paucity of musical talent that on occasion they ask me to do a special number. All I play is the guitar and that only passably. But I have played and sung for the Stake Presidency who seem to have no problem with my choice of instrument. Two weeks ago (just before the missionary arrived) I did another number on a (gasp) electric guitar. I won't say where I dug the song up from, but it was written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and dealt with Pontious Pilate. Hmmm. Again, it's always hard to tell if people are just too polite to say that they've been offended or whether they're not in the least offended. But I don't think anyone batted an eye when I plugged in the Stratocaster for a sacrament performance. It may have helped that I played very softly and sedately. If the pattern holds true, our next missionary (should I play again) will run out of the chapel, holding his ears and screaming to be saved from the idolaters. Tony Markham - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 14:48:40 -0400 From: Tony Markham Subject: Re: [AML] Millennial Economics I don't have much of an opinion on the Capitalism/Socialism debate, but there's one exercise I do in class that has provided me with years of entertainment. In "The Communist Manifesto" Marx gives 10 steps for converting a capitalist economy into a socialist one. He says these steps are gradual and probably wouldn't come all at once. So I have my classes scrutinize these steps and we discuss how many of the ten are actually in place in these good old United States. We always conclude that Karl would be very, very happy with the progress we have made since 1848. Depending on how you score, interpret, or count the dangling chads, we are about a 7.5. Writers of the world, unite! Tony Markham - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 12:00:35 -0700 From: "Jerry Tyner" Subject: RE: [AML] Unsavory Etymologies Robert said: >The thing I notice most frequently nowadays -- on the ice or off -- is = how >ingrained and unconscious swearing has become. [snip] I can relate to these times when we get real upset. My daughter ever = once in a while wants to institute a "Swear Jar" in the house. I can = also relate to the "verbosity" of athletes. I grew up a wrestler from = high school and college then coached and eventually refereed since 1980. = It is amazing the language you hear on the mat from the boys and the = things you hear the coaches say as well. I have dinged team points and = match points on more than one occasion. This would include high school = and international style wrestlers. What is interesting is once you ding = them they shut up and make sure everyone knows who the ref is who will = not tolerate language on his mat. The funniest incident I ever had was = in a match out in Hemet, California. One of the boys was stalling on the = bottom and I gave him a verbal warning and he gave me the finger. He was = at an angle that no one except me could see this and it took me a second = to get my composure and then I blew my whistle and gave him an = unsportsman like penalty. The coach called me over and wanted to know = what he had done. When I told him he started laughing and then told the = kid to keep his fingers to himself. It is amazing what you see and hear = as an official. Jerry Tyner Orange County, CA - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 15:04:38 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Unsavory Etymologies At 05:02 PM 7/29/02 -0600, you wrote: > Most words which are horrible and >obscene have innocuous beginnings, such as t**t, g*****j***v**m and >sw****7**st. My e-mail program put two chili peppers on this message, so it must have learned how to extrapolate from asterisks! barbara hum4 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 15:25:54 -0700 From: "Jerry Tyner" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Utopias Susan Malmrose wrote: >Anyway, I'm glad you were able to find help with your mental problems >through government assistance. My sister was schizophrenic for most of = her >life, and I know from her experiences that there just isn't enough = being >done for the mentally ill. In fact, there was no help for my sister = unless >it could be proven she was a danger to herself or others. She would get >admitted to a half way house for about 18 months, but then released, = because >she wasn't improving. Move out on her own, stop taking her meds and try = to >commit suicide, then get in somewhere else. >I think these things should be talked about more--and written about = more--to >help people be aware of what is needed, and not be so judgmental. I take it from your "most of her life" statement your sister may not be = alive. That is a sad state of affairs when those things happen. The = really sad part is there is such a stigma in the Church (and even the = community) about mental sickness of any kind. Many of the leaders are = still struggling with my son having come home from his mission for = "Generalized Anxiety Disorder" and since I had served a mission and = suffered from this same condition (I had more anxiety over coming home) = there is a real strange cloud around the situation even now. I agree with your statement about talking and writing about this (mental = illness) more. Next week at the Sunstone Symposium my wife will be = participating on a panel discussing missionaries who return early and if = the Church is doing enough for them. I've told the moderator I would be = an alternate if they needed me due to both family and personal = experiences. I'm also working on a personal essay/book about my = experiences on my mission and in my personal life. This is another part = of building Zion that needs to be accomplished. We need to love everyone = in spite of our various weaknesses. Otherwise we will never be able to = stand accepted before the Lord. Jerry Tyner Orange County, CA - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 16:30:07 -0600 From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] English Departments Etc. - ---Original Message From: Clark Goble > > I'll not reply to Jim's view of "politicized postmodernism" > except to suggest that I disagree. > However I think that the attacks on postmodernism or even > "politicized" postmodernism are themselves hidden attacks on > certain leftist political movements. I'm not hiding attacks on leftist political movements, I'm stating them outright. The leftist political movement has taken over Higher Education, at least in the liberal arts. Further, liberal arts has become a self-screening haven for the most extreme elements of leftist political movements. It is to the point now that you cannot receive an English Ph.D. from most Universities without the right (left) *politics*. Since 90% of current tenured professors are "liberals" (or at least registered Democrats), and the 10% that are conservative are older, often marginalized faculty due to retire soon, tenure committees are dominated by "liberals"--enough of whom are politicized to the extent of actively preventing tenure to conservative professors that liberals are assured of *remaining* and even *increasing* their majority. And since postmodernism is the tool they are using to formulate their evaluations, postmodernism is, not surprisingly, itself under attack. Since postmodernism cannot be used adequately against itself and lends itself better to liberal than conservative arguments, it leaves conservatives who wish to pursue the liberal arts with a frustrating dilemma--compromise their integrity or find other work. Eric Samuelson tells us how hard it is for him to be liberal at BYU (though I'd wager he'd have to buttress his liberal bona fides at most any other University). Well, at least he's resisting administrators and other outside influences and not faculty complaints about his academic theatrical credentials. He faces possible firing from BYU, yes, but he does *not* face the potential destruction of his *career* by politicized forces in his field. So. Be liberal and have a bit of a battle at BYU, or be conservative and face bitter, on-going battles everywhere *but* BYU (and maybe there, too, as they attempt to boost their academic--i.e. liberal--reputation). > It is simply a common > tactic of *all* political movements that they "obscure" what > is controversial about themselves and often attack straw men. > I see it in political exchange from every point of view. It doesn't make it okay just because every point of view does it. And it certainly doesn't mean it should be allowed to go unchallenged--whatever the origins. I expect people to challenge me when they think I am wrong (as here). If I'm "obscuring" controversy about myself, then I expect to be called on to explain. I value postmodernism and recognize that it is very useful from the unique perspective of Mormon ideology. The emphasis on individual experience and interpretation is very LDS and gives us tools to communicate our perspective in ways that have been frustratingly absent since, well, forever. Further, it allows us to break down authoritative traditional and historical regimentation that prevented us from communicating in the past. Those are good things that are laudable and should be supported. But I also recognize that postmodernism has some serious weaknesses that make it harmfully non-LDS as well--like the absence of even potential absolutes or standards. Mormons believe strongly in standards and moral absolutes even amidst our call for individualism, personal choice and moral responsibility. As such, while postmodernism is valuable to us, we should never rest solely upon it because doing so will weaken our important contributions as much as it will enhance them. And since postmodernism isn't in trouble or even under threat of *waning*, I choose to decry the abuses that do harm. Particularly when those abuses violate core postmodernist principles by setting up an unofficial standard based on a particular political philosophy. Jacob Proffitt - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 15:33:13 -0700 From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: Re: [AML] Kerry Blair Query Thanks for the info! I'll pass it along to my friend. - ----------------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 19:04:58 -0400 From: "Tracie Laulusa" Subject: [AML] Re: Programs for Poverty It could be a heavy burden on the members of the church to have to fully support church members on church welfare, while at the same time supporting government welfare with their tax contributions. I have mixed feelings about how both government and church welfare work. But I feel a sort of group shame when I hear stories such as Thom's (I think it was Thom) about the shame he was made to feel while needing church welfare. In most wards we've been in we've never known about people who were on welfare unless they told us. I'm a member of the RS presidency now, and still don't know who receives assistance unless somehow I need to help provide it. On the other hand, Thom's comment about garbage being searched for a Big Gulp brought to mind my own parents feelings about government welfare. They were often quite hurt I think when I was growing up, to be working hard to support their family on a navy pay, when people down the street were living to a much higher standard on government welfare. I can imagine them wishing there was some 'garbage sniffer' employed to be sure there was really a need and not extravagance in the program. Tracie Laulusa - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 17:02:12 -0700 From: "Richard R. Hopkins" Subject: Re: [AML] "Choose the Rock" Apparently, Thom wrote: > > I believe all music is exactly like this: completely, utterly without > >> emotion, sentiment, or meaning except for what we as listeners impose on > it. This is obviously not the same thought as you had in mind in saying this, but I think it may be of interest to this discussion, because I think music can, and in fact should, have a powerful emotional content. I had the privilege of taking piano lessons for a short while before I went on my mission from a man trained at the Vienna Conservatory. His name was Josef Rosenfeld, and he was a rather famous teacher in Southern California. He used to say that the emotion had to be in the music and not just in the musician. He spent a great deal of time teaching me various techniques for putting emotion in music. It is all a matter of technique, according to him, and naturally, I would agree. If you know how to put emotion in music, then the listeners will feel it without imposing anything on it. This can be a very powerful influence. Richard Hopkins - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 18:33:16 -0500 From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report July 26 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of July 26, 2002 Report compiled by: Tom Baggaley, LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days - --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 9 Minority Report 3,124,360 1,365 38 Gerald Molen (producer) 123,375,096 21 The Divine Secrets of the 445,261 411 52 Ya-Ya Sisterhood 67,653,127 36 ESPN's Ultimate X 78,844 40 80 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 3,450,995 59 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 20,382 8 815 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,616,464 62 The Singles Ward 17,085 11 178 Kurt Hale (writer/director) 862,185 John E. Moyer (writer) Dave Hunter (producer) Cody Hale (composer) Ryan Little (cinematographer) Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young, Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson, Wally Joyner, Lincoln Hoppe, Gretchen Whalley, Sedra Santos, etc. 68 China: The Panda Adventure 13,527 6 367 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,661,888 75 Galapagos 7,706 4 1004 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,551,853 84 The Other Side of Heaven 4,525 5 227 Mitch Davis (writer/director) 4,659,787 John H. Groberg (author/character) Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers) 95 Mark Twain's America 3D 2,936 2 1487 Alan Williams (composer) 2,257,656 96 The Believer 2,885 4 73 Ryan Gosling (lead actor) 251,622 YEAH, BABY: "Austin Powers in Goldmember," produced by Utah native Eric McLeod, opened in the Number 1 spot nationwide, taking in over $71 million at the U.S. box office over the weekend. This made it the highest-ever opening for a comedy, and the 5th highest opening for any film, coming behind "Spider-man", "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", "Star Wars: Episode 1: Attack of the Clones", and "Lost World: Jurassic Park" (produced by Latter-day Saint producer Jerry Molen). McLeod, who graduated from the University of Utah before embarking on a career as a Hollywood movie producer, brough the "Austin Power" production to his hometown: The opening sequence of the movie was filmed in Moab. (We suppose the big question about McLeod is... Is he or isn't he? Answer: We don't know. Sorry.) MOLEN/MINORITY REPORT: Once films drop from the Top 10 in weekend grossing totals, they rarely return. With new films being released weekly, and a reduction in the number of theaters where the film is playing, it is unlikely that a film can climb back up the rankings. However, this weekend, "Minority Report" (Producer - Gerald Molen) beat the odds and came in at the number 9 spot after finishing number 11 the previous week, although it played in over 300 fewer theaters this weekend. SMOOT: Another impressive number is the number 1000 now attached with "Galapagos" (Cinematographer - Reed Smoot). As of this week, "Galapagos" has been playing in theaters for over 1000 days - equal to just under 2 3/4 years. Granted, IMAX films do tend to play longer than typical theatrical releases. Still, this is a very impressive milestone. Another film with Reed Smoot as cinematographer, "China: The Panda Adventure" passed the one year mark this week. HALE, DANSIE, DeVILLIERS, KIRN: "The RM", the next LDS-themed comedy from HaleStorm Entertainment has begun production. The film, which stars Kirby Heyborne, as a young man who returns from his mission with big plans for the future, only to have his life fall apart around him, is scheduled to be released in January. In other production news, Tucker T Dansie's latest short film "Quarters & Rocks" is set to film tomorrow (Wednesday July 31, 2002) and Rocco DeVilliers' children's film "Up in the Air" is scheduled to film beginning in September. Funny thing to note: "Up in the Air" is ALSO the title of a novel by lapsed Latter-day Saint novelist Walter Kirn, which has been optioned to be made into a feature film directed by Jay Roach, the director of the "Austin Powers" movies. Meanwhile, shooting is reportedly under way on the movie version of Kirn's novel THUMBSUCKER. The movie stars Elijah Wood (star of "Lord of the Rings") in the central role. In the novel, Elijah Wood's character meets missionaries, joins the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and serves part of a mission. "Thumbsucker", which will be released in 2003, is the feature film directorial debut of Mike Mills, who should NOT be confused with Latter-day Saint director Michael Mills, the director of "He Took My Licking", which was written by Elizabeth Hansen and photographed by "Handcart" director Kels Goodman. BIOS: The first stage of the "Brief Biographies of Latter-day Saint and/or Utah Film Personalities" section of the ldsfilm.com website is complete. The completed versions of all of the pages are finished and online. Well over 1,000 capsule biographies are provided, covering the majority of film personalities listed on the ldsfilm.com filmography pages (primarily actors, directors, producers, writers, and cinematographers, with some miscellaneous crew such as production designers, costume designers, etc.) There are no biographies for film composers. The LDSFilm.com composers links directly to composers' websites. The capsule biographies are listed alphabetically, one page for each letter of the alphabet. The bio section is located at: http://www.ldsfilm.com/bio/ GOODMAN/HANDCART: Kels Goodman's long-awaited "Handcart" was given a "preview" showing at the Scera Theater in Orem on July 23rd. It was a video projection, rather than film, and some of the sound work is still not done. But those invited were able to see the film essentially in its final form. Kels and company still have some time before the scheduled October 11th official release, scheduled for 20 theaters in Utah, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada to polish the final product. LDSFilm.com co-webmaster Thomas C. Baggaley was there. For Thomas, highlights of the film were the relationships between the characters, and the acting, especially a strong performance by male lead Jaelan Petrie. Although the video projection was not as clear as film would have been, it is clear that this will be a very good looking film as well as a nice tribute to the handcart pioneers. At the preview, Kels announced that he is going to begin working on his next film immediately. It will be an action/adventure film about Boy Scouts. SWAN: The long-awaited premiere of "The Princess and the Pea" will be on August 16th. Although the film does not have Latter-day Saint characters, most of the key filmmakers are Latter-day Saints, including director Mark Swan, producers Forrest S. Baker III and Don Judd, and composer Alan Williams. Local voice actors include Frank Gerrish and Chrystine Potter Hyatt. PERRY/MASTER OF DISGUISE: Next week sees the nationwide release of "The Master of Disguise" (2002), a family-friendly film that marks the directorial debut of production designer Perry Andelin Blake. Blake (a practicing Latter-day Saint) is best known for his acclaimed production design work on all of the Adam Sandler feature films. "Master of Disguise" stars Saturday Night Live alum Dana Carvey. Look for it EVERYWHERE. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 17:36:04 -0600 From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Programs for Poverty - ---Original Message From: Jonathan Langford > In reply to a comment by Eric Samuelsen, Jacob Proffitt wrote: > > > >Following the Church welfare program means not accepting government > >aid. You can't have them "in conjunction" within the policy > of Church > >welfare. Exceptions might be made, but I haven't heard of them and > >would be surprised if they passed "official" muster. > > Jacob, I'm not sure what you mean here. There's no official > policy I know of that in order to accept Church aid, you need > to not be accepting government aid. This is sort of true. I'll explain below. > The only such policy I'm aware of (from the various Church > handbooks) is that Church welfare should not duplicate aid > that people are receiving from other sources--which is not > the same thing, as I see it, as saying they shouldn't be > receiving that aid. I couldn't find this in the handbook so I don't know about duplication of needs. It makes sense at any rate. > I also asked our bishop, who said that so far as he knew, > there was no such limitation. He added that in many cases, > e.g., single parents, it would be very hard for families to > make it without government aid. It *is* hard for single parents to care for their families both materially and spiritually. I *think* it's possible without aid, even with limited resources, but I don't know that, really. At any rate, church policy doesn't mention government aid and specifically says that the church should do all it can in pretty much any situation. Interestingly, though, there *is* an injunction against activism under the aegis of leadership responsibilities: "Church leaders should do what they can to help meet the basic needs of members in any of these circumstances and to help the members become self-reliant. But in their work as Church leaders, they should not concentrate on solving economic and political problems in their communities or nations. Rather, ward and stake leaders should concentrate on helping people overcome those causes of welfare need that the individual or family can remedy. Individual Church members, as citizens, may work toward solving economic and political problems by participating in worthy projects sponsored by their communities." > On a related topic, from time to time, I've heard some (not > in positions of > authority) claim that the "ideal" of the Church welfare > program is to make it so that active Church members should > never have to receive governmental aid. But if this ever was > a goal of Church welfare, it's my sense that this is not the case now. Oh yeah, that's a stated goal of Church Welfare. Or rather, the stated goal is "People who receive assistance should use it to release themselves from the bondage and limitations of their need, becoming more self-reliant and more able to give to others." > But then, I may simply be misunderstanding what you meant here... I don't think you misunderstood what I meant, but I was wrong in what I said. As you can see above, one thing notably absent from official church policy was any statement about government aid, right or wrong. The relevant passage from where I'd expect such a statement goes: "When Church members are doing all they can to provide for themselves but still cannot meet their basic needs, they first should turn to their families for help. When this is not sufficient, the Church stands ready to help. Members who need such assistance should call on their bishops." No mention of government at all. Now, my *interpretation* of that (and the interpretation I heard from my leaders) is that if the family cannot then the Church will--which leaves little room for the government. Your *material* needs should be supplied by one of You, Your Family, or The Church (in that order of precedence). Now, because Paris brought it up I looked up mental health issues as well. It turns out that mental health is not in the Welfare section at all--there is a whole 'nother (lengthy) section for it and a quick perusal indicates that the bishop is to be more of a spiritual advisor than anything else. Wards are to have compassion, gain understanding, and support members with mental health problems in any way they can based on what they learn about what is going on. I break it down into three steps: 1) Get to know the person individually, 2) Learn everything you can about their condition and diagnosis, 3) Give as much support (spiritual, physical, emotional) as possible based on that combined knowledge and the needs of the situation. Jacob Proffitt - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 13:53:25 -0700 From: JLTyner Subject: Re: [AML] Unsavory Etymologies You had a lot of fun with this post, didn't you Paris? ;-) Kathy Paris Anderson wrote: >I consider myself fluent in obscene language. When I was younger (about 37) >I took pride in being able to say S**t in several different languages (I'm >still charmed by that ability). The origin F**k, as Robert Slaven surmised, >is Middle German. It comes from the verb Fokkin, I'm not sure of the >spelling, which means "to penetrate." Most words which are horrible and >obscene have innocuous beginning, such as t**t, g*****j***v**m and >sw****7**st. > >Paris Anderson - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 20:02:03 -0500 From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Little Secrets (Movie) The official website for Latter-day Saint film director Blair Treu's new Columbia TriStar release "Little Secrets" is online at: http://www.littlesecretsmovie.com/ "Little Secrets" and "Possession", both helmed by BYU grads, will soon be duking it out at the box office. Here are some quotes from people who have seen the movie. I lifted them from the official website, so I'm sure they are accurate and objective. 'Little Secrets' is beautifully crafted. It is fun and full of good values which are revealed rather than stated. Everyone learns forgiveness, kindness and love. 'Little Secrets' has something to tell the world, and it needs to be seen by all." - - Ted Baehr, MOVIEGUIDE=ac=c6 "Undeniably affecting thanks to some strong performances. Evan Rachel Wood gives a touching performance. =ac=ddMichael Angarano is a scene-stealing delight." - - Stephen Farber, Movieline "An uncommonly smart, intellegent film aimed at young audiences and families." - - Bonnie Britton, Indianapolis Star Tribune "The most popular movie we have ever shown. A resounding hit with kids and their parents." - - Jeff Sparks, Heartland Film Festival "LITTLE SECRETS is an irresistible charmer full of heart, soul, surprises and fun. Fourteen-year-old Emily is an enchanting character, sketched with rare sensitivity and insight, and portrayed by a supremely talented young actress, Evan Rachel Wood. Delightful viewing for the whole family!" - - Michael Medved, " Eye on Entertainment," SRN Radio Network, or KRLA "One of the Finest Family Films! Bound to be a Classic." - - Elaine Blythe, Film Advisory Board - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 17:50:30 -0700 From: Robert Slaven Subject: Re: [AML] Harry Potter Question =46rom: DiannRead@aol.com > An LDS guy I work with informed me today that in her efforts to be authentic, > J.K. Rowling "used the actual runes used by Wiccans" for the spells= the > characters learn and use in the stories. That was news to me--thou= gh it > won't stop me from enjoying and recommending them. Can any of you = confirm > that, and if it's true, what's the source of that information? I doubt it, for a bunch of reasons: 1) Runes aren't words, they're letters. Specifically, IIRC, 25 lett= ers of the Old Norse alphabet. They were eventually supplanted by the Roman alphabet, of course, but two runes for the 'th' sounds (=FE and =F0 -= - - use alt+0254 and 0240 respectively, or 0222 and 0208 for the capitals) su= rvive in the Icelandic language as supplements to the Roman letters. 2) Wiccans use the runes the way numerologists use numbers. Each run= e is supposed to have 'magic' connotations, many of which differ from grou= p to group. It's pretty obviously bogus. 3) The words used by Rowling as spells seem to be mostly Latin words,= or made-up words based on Latin. Consider the 'Lumos' spell to turn you= r wand into a flashlight, which stems from a Latin root (see the English wor= ds 'luminous' or 'illuminate'). Or 'expelliarmus' to disarm an opponent= of his/her wand; again, from the same Latin root that gives us the Engli= sh word 'expel' and its derivatives. In fact, a little Googling finds the fo= llowing article in the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/potter/984689 (There's a related story at http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/potter/984711, too.) which lists a buttload of those spells, and their apparent roots. (S= ome are =66rom the Greek -- e.g. 'Petrificus Totalus', where the root is the = Greek 'petra', or rock, with related English word 'petrify'. This last der= ivation, of course, all LDS should at least be marginally aware of.) I suspect Ms. Rowling either knew a smattering of Latin, knew enough = about English origins to be aware of Latin roots, and/or had a Latin dictio= nary to hand when she made up the words for these spells. (She was a teacher= , apparently, so this should be no huge surprise.) But they have absol= utely nothing to do with runes or with Wicca. I also suspect your co-worker doesn't know what an 'urban legend' is,= nor how to refrain from passing one along. %-) Finally, may I recommend the useful article at http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/potter.htm, where letters circulat= ing claiming that Potter is leading kids to witchcraft quote unknowingly = =66rom a satirical article in The Onion (www.theonion.com). The Snopes articl= e closes with the following sentences, which are indeed most valuable: "If The Onion's parody has demonstrated anything, it's that we should= be worrying about adults not being able to distinguish between fiction a= nd reality. The kids themselves seem to have a pretty good grasp of it." ObMakingFunOfAmericans: Who knows the reason why the original title = of the first book was changed for the US market? (And *only* the US market;= my Canadian-published edition has the original title.) Five points to t= he house of whoever answers this correctly first. Ten points if you're a Yank yourself. Robert the muggle *********************************************************************= * Robert & Linn-Marie Slaven www.robertslaven.c= a =2E..with Stuart, Rebecca, Mariann, Kristina, Elizabeth, and Robin to= o 'Man is that he might have joy--not guilt trips.' (Russell M. Nelson= ) - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 19:01:20 -0600 From: "Richard C. Russell" Subject: Re: [AML] "Choose the Rock" - ----- Original Message ----- From: > > This is correct. By definition, an E minor chord is a > certain set of notes at a certain frequency. > > However, I suspect I could use that innocent little > E minor chord in such a way that it would knock your > socks off and set your pacemaker back two or three > strokes. > > It wouldn't be the E minor chord's fault. It would be > the setting in which I placed it--how I used it--that > would make the difference. This is also true with words. Are there some chords that would NEVER be appropriate? Is that the same with words? ********************************************* Richard C. Russell, SLC UTAH www.leaderlore.com, lderlore@xmission.com "There is never the last word, only the latest." ********************************************* This e-mail is a personal communication sometimes intended merely for the sake of discussion. Its contents represent solely the opinions of the author and not necessarily those of the author's employer nor those of any organization with which the author may be affiliated. It is specifically not intended to be a representation of LDS Church doctrine. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 17:57:28 -0700 (PDT) From: William Morris Subject: Re: [AML] Harry Potter Question - --- Jonathan Langford wrote: > From: jlangfor@pressenter.com > > One possible source for this person's misinformation about J.K. Rowling > could be the fake "interview" of J.K. Rowling done in the satirical > publication "The Onion" a couple of years ago. As I recall, this made-up > > interview had Rowling talking about how great Satan is, etc., etc. Of > course, those who are familiar with The Onion would know that all of > their > pieces are spoofs. But I seem to recall that this article was cited as a > > serious source at the time, by some who (a) were concerned about Harry > Potter, and (b) evidently didn't know what type of publication The Onion > is. > (Since it's available online, probably this is one of the items that > would > have come up as a natural result of searching on Harry Potter and > Satanism. > Sigh.) > The source document for what Jonathan is referring to above, along with a link to the Onion article is available at: http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/harrypotter.html Warning: The Onion article does use some harsh language and sexually graphic (albeit it comic, exaggerated) descriptions. For those of you who haven't heard this before, both urbanlegends.com and snopes.com [ http://www.snopes.com/ ] are excellent resources for urban legends of a religious, political, Internet, business or sociological nature. ~~William Morris __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 00:04:48 -0600 From: "Jana Pawlowski" Subject: [AML] Re: Unsavory Etymologies Bill Willson wrote: > > >Not too many people know that this word is derived from a perfectly innocent > >acronym that became a word simply because it was easier to say it than say > >the letters of the notation on the London police blotter that went along > >with the offense of - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. > > [snip] Jonathan Langford wrote: > Actually, this seems to fall into the category of folk etymologies that > have no basis in fact. Use of this word dates back at least to the 15th > century, according to my dictionary (and may date back a lot further than > that--such words often don't make it into written sources nearly as early > as they are used in spoken language), and the word appears to have links to > Dutch and Swedish. My favorite version of the origin of this word can be found on any joke page if you do a search on "pluck yew" (and actually many people have taken this one seriously). Someone sent it to me in 1997, my first year on the internet, so most of you on the list have probably seen it as well. Here it is: (I thought we could all use some comic relief and concentrating too hard on my Astronomy class to contribute anything listworthy anyway.....) "Strange But True" Daily Feature The Historical Origin of the Middle Finger Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger, it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, "See, we can still pluck yew ... ... PLUCK YEW!" Over the years, some 'folk etymologies' have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say (like "pleasant mother pheasant plucker", which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows for the longbow), the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird". Jana - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #789 ******************************