I still need a lot of purifying. judging from my double-take the first time this title came up on my Amazon recommendation list.
I tend to take the prudish side whenever the perennial debate on nudity in art gets going.
From the July 2012 issue of First Things. (more…)
(From our friends at icanhascheezburger.com)
Based on the reaction of the fashionistas to a crucifix in a jar of urine or an image of the Virgin Mary decorated with elephant dung and photographs of naked lady parts, one might naively conclude that art has lost all its power to shock. This would be a profoundly wrong conclusion.
Evidently Norman Rockwell still has power to cause horror and dismay in the artistic world. Which I suppose means the Church’s artistic offerings are a lot bolder than I thought.
His Majesty: “Given the teenage penchant for rebellion, this could actually increase interest in marriage. But probably not, given that marriage is much harder work than camping out in a business district and heckling rich people.”
Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, Margaux Hemingway*, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Oh, ye fair ones!
(*I was going to list just singers, but I had a crush on Margaux. She was just a few years older than I, and I loved how she didn’t pluck her eyebrows.)
My name’s Bookslinger, and I’m an alcoholic. (“Hi Bookslinger!”) It’s been 10 years since I’ve had a drink…
You can now buy tumor-shaped jewelry to show solidarity with persons suffering from breast cancer.
His Majesty: “I suppose it could be worse. They could be showing solidarity with persons suffering from hypospadia.”
The term “intellectual” is one frequently found in descriptions of political groupings and presumably refers to writers, artists, poets, philosophers, and other idlers whose influence is considerably greater than their numbers or contribution would warrant.
I’d like to highlight this Church piece on “Worshipping Through Art.” (more…)
Here are some brief reviews of mostly crappy books. (more…)
Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel as played for priesthood meeting by a convert aunt of Sally DeFord who played piano for silent movies: link.
Some thoughts on the divine purpose of imagination that should be of interest to Mormons. (more…)
Over at the Old Country, I went full-on bloviate about the possibility for distinctive Mormon arts and culture and scholarship/philosophy. I’m reproducing the comment here. (more…)
Agatha Christie’s Christmas Story Star Over Bethlehem starts out sounding like a piece of mid-priced sentimentality, but then it gets really good, really quick. All is not as it seems. (more…)