From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #305 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 Saturday, April 21 2001 Volume 01 : Number 305 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 12:24:05 -0700 (PDT) From: William Morris Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Commerce Poetry Contest > [MOD: I admit to ongoing skepticism, based on the > same reasons Linda > mentions. However, even if this is essentially a > money-making con/spam, it's > still on-topic for AML-List--as a potential subject > for discussion, if > nothing else.] > I'm not saying that the Creative Commerce contest comes even close to the same level of silliness, but as a lark, a few years ago I decided to enter the poetry contest that gets advertised in the Sunday comics section. I sent in under an assumed name a cloying sonnet I had written as a teenager. It had a vauge earth-day, envori-friendly theme. I didn't win any of the cash prizes, but the editors were so impressed with its quality that they wanted to include it in their anthology---an anthology that is sent every year to the Library of Congress! Not only that, but I was offered a discount on copies of the anthology to give to family and friends or to donate to my local library. My favorite letter was the one telling me that I could even order a laser-cut, high quality plasticine, mounted-like-a-plaque copy of my poem, suitable for hanging. Much to their probable dismay and my genuine amusement, I kept moving through the approval process---spending money on postage to send back proof sheets, etc.---without ordering anything. Unfortunately, the last time I moved I threw away all the correspondence generated by my submission. However, unless they outright lied, somewhere out there, maybe even in the Library of Congress, is an anthology of poetry with a sonnet in it contributed by a Liam Petrescu. It remains my only work in print [unless Quinn is secretly publishing my submissions to his on-line publication _the White Shoe Irregular_]. ~~William Morris, who thinks that if you can't scrub up two or three c-notes to give the judges of a poetry contest, maybe you shouldn't be sponsoring the contest in the first place. Isn't poetry for profit an oxymoron? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 21:47:18 GMT From: cgileadi@emerytelcom.net Subject: Re: [AML] Creative Commerce Poetry Contest I think a ten-dollar entry fee is high for a contest that only awards $100 for the first place winner. Once in a while I look through writing contests on the Web, and although lots of them have entry fees, usually the prize is higher. Cathy Gileadi Wilson - --------------------------------------------- This message was sent using Endymion MailMan. http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 09:43:45 -0600 From: Boyd Petersen Subject: [AML] Re: BECK, _Expecting Adam_ (Review) Since there seems to be interest, here is a personal response to Martha's book from my wife, Zina. - --Boyd Petersen I have always loved my sister very much--during the formative years of our lives, more than anyone else. It=B9s her demons I can do without. Trouble is= , they=B9re chronic demons, ones you can=B9t deal with just once. Oh, no; Martha's hankering for attention has always been un-ignorable and persistent, like an exploded water heater, or irritable bowl syndrome: you CAN'T ignore it.=20 This is one reason I couldn't read her book in one sitting. I=B9d get a few sentences into a page and something so outlandish and weird would surface that I=B9d have to stop and go get a glass of water, or something else from, you know, this planet. The knowledge that what I am reading about is supposed to record episodes that I was privy to, and quite a few that I=B9d lived--and it=B9s so different from what I remember--is creepy and psycho-making. =20 The deal is this: I am the ninth of nine children, Martha is the eighth (Eight of us are living; I used to like to say I was the ninth of eight kids). There was a gap of four years between her and our sister just older than she, but only twenty months between Martha and me, so we were a team, =B3the Little Girls.=B2 We lived almost as a unit until she went off to--where was it she went to college again? So I guess I am as good an authority on her childhood as anyone else in my family. I don=B9t speak for all of us, bu= t here=B9s my take on some of the things that bother me about Martha=B9s book. Some of them. To my recollection, far more than intellectualism, far more than snootiness or laughter or any of the other false gods my family is accused of worshipping in the pages of her book, our home was infused with my parents=B9 faith. I mean both the doctrines of Mormonism, which get strange distorted nods of disapproval from Martha, and the underlying sweet confidence both m= y mother and father have that God loves us, knows us, watches us and helps us= . Obviously, Martha does not share this view of our growing up years. My father is very smart, and he=B9s in awe of the things he knows, which is very different from being impressed with the fact THAT he knows them. It is not knowledge that he loves but truth. He still makes the distinction, and it is all important to what he does. Scared sleepless of falling into pride, he dwells in a state of mild anxiety, seeking frantically to find, in his scholarship, answers that will lead people to Jesus Christ, all the while painfully aware that academic pursuit is larded with arrogance and self-importance. This is not something he had to learn from Adam; he has been struggling with this challenge since about 1920--check his letters to his grandpa. His attitude toward Martha and me when we were little (and I speak, of course, only from my own point of view) felt like favoritism to me, but the sad part is that I believed it was justifiable favoritism. Martha was so gifted, so bright and so gorgeously beautiful that Daddy was understandably enthusiastic about her. He delighted in her. He showed her off. He taught her to read at age two, and to memorize all the birds in the nature books, and he beamed and beamed at her. She also was the squeaky wheel, so it was easy and inevitable to pay her all the attention her performances and brilliance demanded. Of course, I was pretty gosh darn brilliant and beautiful myself, but Martha was just so...present, always. And loudly unignorable and flashy; how do you not watch when fireworks are going off? I was the good and dutiful side-kick straight man to the real act, which wa= s Martha. (I know this is sick and twisted, all that 'wind beneath her wings' crap; oi, she turned me into a newt, but I got better....) Daddy would take us swimming at the BYU pool, and on long walks around campus or in the canyons, and at bedtime he would put Richter on the record player and read us Asterix in French or German and tell us stories he made up about us, thinly disguised as two wispy and intrepid adventurers named Mary and Dorothy-Jane. As we grew up he did become more distant. Even though he=B9s funny and entertaining, he isn't socially graceful; he wasn't trained to be, and he i= s very private and very alone. I wished then and still wish that it were easier for me to talk to him about things that are emotionally important, but though it can be a challenge, it is not impossible. I know he will neve= r turn me away from his house or his heart, and he is indulgent and generous with all his grandchildren to a fault. He and Adam adored each other. My mother is utterly, completely, totally without guile. She couldn't lie i= f you paid her--even if she cared to be paid, which is laughable. Mom was severely mistreated as a child, to the point where no one in the extended family she was passed around to noticed that she was malnourished; she had rickets, and grew up with extremely fragile bones and joints. She married m= y father when she was barely twenty and bore those nine children, only one of whom, I think, was under nine pounds. Each pregnancy zapped more calcium ou= t of her and the supplements usually gave her kidney stones, and by the time = I was born, guess what? She was tired. This was in the years before KSL reports on depression in Mormon women, before the days when everybody figured out that Molly Mormon is a lie. So she wasn=B9t a Molly and felt terrible about it. She did, however, knock herself out for her kids. The house was messy but not diseased; were no roaches or rats or lice or pink plastic flamingoes; we were never without food, we were never naked, and it was Mom who stayed up late sewing costumes for Martha=B9s and my plays, choir= s and orchestras. The =B3Stuff=B2 Martha mentions was not the white-trash accoutrements she makes it sound like, either. It was books. No tv. Ever= y room in the house, including bathrooms, had at least one floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, packed three rows deep, sometimes. The linen closets were full o= f paperbacks and magazines, you couldn=B9t spit in that house without moistenin= g a book. Part of this was of course icky; could we please learn to pack a box for Deseret Industries? Most of it was wonderful. If we lacked verbal= , living, breathing guidance from our parents, we had every author on the planet to fill in for them. Books to escape to, books to learn from, books to comfort us when Daddy was emotionally missing and Mom was emotionally exhausted. Not ideal. You could do worse. Mom has a younger brother who is an autistic savant. He=B9s amazing and odd, and Mom always loved and cared for him and took his condition in stride, too, whether he was holed up in his room or reciting from memory every county seat in the US. She was the eldest child of a single and problemati= c mother and was very protective of her brothers. She never had any reason either to doubt that Raymond was =B3different=B2 or to find anything wrong, bad= , or inferior about him. Both of my parents had had experiences with mentall= y handicapped people before Adam was conceived, both of them held view that such people, though inaccessible to us, are somehow more impressive for the sacrifices they live. Never once in this world would my mother be disappointed or chagrinned to have a down syndrome kid among her posterity. Never once did she assume either that Martha would have it easy raising a downs child, OR that it was less worth doing than raising a genius. Both o= f my parents, whatever her book says, knew that the =B3Lord looketh on the heart,=B2 not the brain. Mom saw Adam=B9s Down syndrome as answer to her praye= r that someday Martha=A0might catch on to this too. Martha and John were active in the Church when she got pregnant with Adam. Many wonderful and astounding things did happen to her when she was pregnant, some of which made it into the book, but very changed from how sh= e told them to me at the time. Many of them aren=B9t in the book. All of them= , without exception, she and John attributed to prayer, God and angels, sometimes ancestors, sometimes the Church, as in visiting teachers--but always in very Mormon language. No puppeteers, no atheistic shock that the Otherworld was real, just shock that the baby she carried merited its attention. I saw a t-shirt once that said =B3Don=B9t act so humble, you=B9re not that great.= =B2 Adam has his work cut out, doesn=B9t he? Zina Petersen - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 17:05:41 -0600 From: "mjames_laurel" Subject: [AML] Prayers Requested This is off topic, so if the moderator feels it's inappropriate, I completely understand. If, however, it's not inappropriate, this might be a good time to ask for your faith and prayers to be extended to Elder Karl Miller, who was critically injured in a traffic accident on his bike in West Valley City Monday evening. Elder Miller, who is my nephew, is still comatose. He was two weeks from his mission release date when the accident occurred. We are obviously very concerned and worried about him, and appreciate all those who have been fasting and praying for him. Laurel Brady [MOD: Among other things--a discussion group, debate forum, publication venue, and the like--I like to think that we on AML-List are a community as well. While this doesn't have a direct tie-in to the topic that brings us together, I think it's entirely appropriate to share personal news and requests from time to time that relate to ourselves as List members or to others who are important to us.] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 20:04:30 -0600 From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: [AML] Harry Potter Onion Redux My mother, who is not noted for detecting subtle humor, sent me this email attachment last week. The article warning against Harry Potter contains quotes from people who were "interviewed" in the ONION spoof this summer about Christian fear of Harry. Which is funnier--the first or second time? (Johnathan, you may want to edit down the post.) [MOD: This whole thing throws an interesting light on our recent discussion of satire, as well...] Alan Mitchell The following is an email sent for the American Family Association,=20 which is VERY disturbing, to say the least. Please forward to all email=20 contacts, especially Christians and Pastors.=20 Dear Christian, This is the most evil thing I have laid my eyes on in 10 = years ... and no one seems to understand its threat.=20 The Harry Potter books are THE NUMBER ONE selling children's books in=20 the nation today. Just look at any Barns & Noble or Waldenbooks=20 storefront.=20 Go to Amazon.com and read the reviews. Hear the touting by educators and = even Christian teachers about how "It's great to see the youth so = eagerly=20 embracing the reading experience!"=20 Harry Potter is the creation of a former UK English teacher who promotes = witchcraft and Satanism. Harry is a 13 year old 'wizard.'=20 Her creation openly blasphemes Jesus and God and promotes sorcery,=20 seeking revenge upon anyone who upsets them by giving you examples (even = the=20 sources with authors and titles) of spells, rituals, and demonic powers. = I think the problem is that parents have not reviewed the material. The=20 name seems harmless enough... Harry Potter. But that is where it all=20 ends. Let me give you a few quotes from some of the influenced readers=20 themselves:=20 "The Harry Potter books are cool, 'cause they teach you all about magic=20 and how you can use it to control people and get revenge on your=20 enemies" said Hartland, WI, 10 year old Craig Nowell, a recent convert=20 to the New Satanic Order Of The Black Circle. "I want to learn the=20 Cruciatus Curse, to make my muggle science teacher suffer for giving me=20 a D." (A 'muggle' is an unbeliever of magic.)=20 Or how about the REALLY young and innocent impressionable mind of a 6=20 year old when asked about her favorite character:=20 "Hermione is my favorite, because she's smart and has a kitty," said 6=20 year old Jessica Lehman of Easley, SC. "Jesus died because He was weak = and=20 stupid."=20 And here is dear Ashley, a 9 year old, the typical average age reader of = Harry Potter: "I used to believe in what they taught us at Sunday = School,"=20 said Ashley, conjuring up an ancient spell to summon Cerebus, the=20 three-headed hound of hell. "But the Harry Potter books showed me that = magic=20 is real, something I can learn and use right now, and that the Bible is=20 nothing but Boring lies."=20 DOES THIS GET YOUR ATTENTION?=20 If not, how about a quote from High Priest of Satanism: "Harry is an=20 absolute godsend to our cause," said High Priest Egan of the First=20 Church Of Satan in Salem, MA, An organization like ours thrives on new=20 blood no pun intended and we've had more applicants than we can handle=20 lately. And, of course, practically all of them are virgins, which is=20 gravy." (Since 1995, open applicants to Satan worship has increased from = around 100,000 to now...20 MILLION children and young adults!) It makes = me=20 physically ill, people!=20 But, I think I can offer you an explanation of why this is happening.=20 Children have been bombarded with action, adventure, thrills and scares=20 to the point Hollywood can produce nothing new to give them the next=20 'high.' Parents have neglected to see what their children are reading=20 and doing, and simply seem satisfied that 'Little Johnny is interested=20 in reading.'=20 AND... educators and the NEA are PUSHING this with NO WARNING as to the=20 effects or the contents.=20 Still not convinced? I will leave you with something to let you make up=20 your own mind. And finally, a quote from the author herself, J. K. = Rowling,=20 describing the objections of Christian reviewers to her writings: "I = think=20 it's absolute rubbish to protest children's books on the grounds that = they=20 are luring children to Satan," Rowling told a London Times reporter in a = July 17 interview. "People should be praising them for that! These books = gui=20 de children to an understanding that the weak, idiotic Son Of God is a=20 living hoax who will be humiliated when the rain of fire comes ... while = we,=20 his faithful servants, laugh and cavort in victory."=20 My hope is that you will see fit to become involved in getting the word=20 out about this garbage. Please FWD to every pastor, teacher, and parent=20 you know. This author has now published FOUR BOOKS in less than 2 years=20 of this 'encyclopedia of Satanism' and is surely going to write more. I=20 also ask all Christians to please pray for this lost woman's soul.=20 Pray also for the Holy Spirit to work in the young minds of those who=20 are reading this garbage that they may be delivered from its harm.=20 Lastly, pray for all parents to grow closer to their children, and That=20 a bond of sharing thoughts and spiritual intimacy will grow between=20 them.=20 - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 12:09:02 +1000 From: "Covell, Jason" Subject: [AML] DUTCHER, _The Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith Jr._ Richard Dutcher has certainly done it now. With a single stroke, he's gone for the big one - the Joseph Smith story. (See today's Excel press release, now busily being forwarded to family and friends everywhere - hey, I did!) Oh boy. The next twelve to eighteen months are going to be absolutely ripe with speculation. Well, there's scarcely a movie-going Church member who hasn't at some time dreamed of a big-screen treatment of the Prophet's story. And now it's going to be carte blanche for absolutely anyone to toss into the ring their pet ideas, hobbyhorses, casting choices or whatever. We've all got 'em. So here's mine. For me, my first thoughts range over some of the big biopics about the great, larger-than-life figures of this century - _Lawrence of Arabia_, _Gandhi_, _Malcolm X_, _Michael Collins_. They all led a people towards freedom, and all died violently or prematurely. Two figures (in _Lawrence_ and _Gandhi_) are shown dying at the very start of the film. All tell of their rising from obscurity to fame whether by calling or happenstance, and of their frailties and weaknesses as well as the qualities which made them great in their day. Big films, huge films, all of them. The question is therefore, are they the models, consciously or otherwise, for Dutcher's film? Truth is, I'm really not sure. Looking at Dutcher's strengths in his two Mormon films so far, I sense that he will be going for a very personal portrait of Joseph and the drama of his closest relationships, with a strong sense of Joseph's spiritual journey. Dutcher's great sensitivity in handling spiritual moments on screen make this a wonderful prospect to consider. I can't believe that Joseph will come across as a stock figure modelled after any of the foregoing examples (this was my greatest fear from a Hollywood treatment). What of the epic sweep, the history of the Church from Palmyra all the way to Nauvoo and Carthage? This is a very personal matter with me. I became aware of, and finally converted to the Church partly through my initial curiosity and fascination with Church history. As I read of the story of Joseph and Brigham Young and the early members of the Church, I became convinced that this _was_ the greatest story I had every come across. My first struggles came with the difficulty in accepting that these stories were themselves all true - and by that I mean the simple history itself, never mind the spiritual encounters and revelations of Joseph Smith! And so, I can't help but wish that the big screen epic that _I've_ dreamed (as one of many who have had such a dream) will be made. Of course, I don't know that it can. I don't know what Dutcher's take on epic is, because I haven't seen him try it. I do have great confidence in Dutcher as a storyteller and a craftsman, and I think that the eventual film will surprise many - it won't be like the Church-sponsored films featuring the Prophet. Dutcher has signalled his commitment to telling one of the two greatest and most important stories that he knows (alongside that of the Saviour), and I think that commitment will count for a lot. And in the end, I don't think Dutcher's film will overtly resemble the examples I first listed, although there may be some good things borrowed (a script as wonderful as Robert Bolt's wouldn't be bad!) It's going to be interesting. I can't imagine the difficulties in casting, and I haven't begun to wonder what known faces could step into the lead roles. Will Dutcher himself play Hyrum? I'm sure I won't be alone in speculating on all these things. Look forward to everyone's thoughts. Jason Covell - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 22:44:19 -0400 From: Dean FH Macy Subject: [AML] Re: [AML-Mag] Creative Commerce Poetry Contest Linda Adams wrote: > I received this message a while ago and inquired further to make sure of > the validity of this contest (that this was not a SPAM mail). You should be skeptical. The simple rule to writing submissions, poetry or otherwise, if you are asked for a fee, basically a reading fee, stay clear. Legit poetry and writing contests do not require fees. When you are asked to pay for the priviledge of entering, go elsewhere. Dean FH Macy, Lit.D - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------- http://www.mp3.com/stations/epilogue_records_artistshtml - -------------------------------------------------------- "If you must be wrong, then be wrong at the top of your voice!" (Lucy Van Pelt) - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 22:21:55 -0600 From: Steve Subject: Re: [AML] BECK, _Expecting Adam_ (Review) on 4/18/01 10:55 AM, Steve at skperry@mac.com wrote: > I worry about this thread turning into gossip. Interesting, yes, but > gossip. > > :-) > > Steve > > [MOD: I can't tell from the smiley face whether Steve is genuinely > expressing concern about the appropriateness of this topic for the List or > not My concern is genuine. The smiley face was to show that I hope I wasn't coming across as the self-appointed privacy police, but that a friendly reminder seemed in order--no matter how much of a public figure someone may be, I'm not comfortable discussing their home life and their relationships with their children unless the person involved is actually present. The teeny crumb of notoriety and/or public recognition I've experienced in my own life shows me how misleading and usually uninformed and sometimes downright cruel such discussions can be; however well intentioned. There. I've said my peace now and will include a bonus smiley face emoticon for those who just can't get enough of them! :-) Steve [MOD: Thanks to Steve for a kindly reminder (both for the reminder, and for making it kindly!) on a topic we do need to keep in mind.] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 13:11:18 -0500 From: Craig Huls Subject: Re: [AML] Richard DUTCHER, _Brigham City_ (REVIEW) Scott and Marny Parkin wrote: > D. Michael Martindale wrote: > > >P.S. I never got my picture taken. We in the Germany Frankfurt mission > >were much too mature for that. > > We in the Germany Hamburg mission also found no humor in taking > pictures of enthroned elders. > > Of course I have a picture somewhere of an elder relieving himself on > the Berlin wall. I won't comment as to which elder that was, or how > my camera came to take his picture... > > Scott Parkin > > - > AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature > http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm In the old days. The people developing the film would not have printed those pictures. "... times they are a changin'" Craig Huls email:dcraigh@onramp.net - - 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 #305 ******************************