Long-time U2 manager Paul McGuinness gave a speech at the the Midem music industry convention in Cannes yesterday, January 28th. In the speech he talks about what is destroying the record music industry. And the title of the spiel ‘The Online Bonanza: Who is making all the money and why aren’t they sharing it?’ should [...]

Thank you, President Hinckley.  We love you.

15th President, Prophet, Seer and Revelator of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Apple offers MacBook Air buyers the option of purchasing the ultralight notebook with a solid-state drive instead of the more typical hard drive. But solid-state storage is so expensive that few customers are likely to go for it — and, experts say, it won’t be an affordable alternative to hard drive storage for many years.
“Right [...]

The deadline for members of the Church to submit original music and theatrical works is only a few months away. Both submissions are due by March 31, 2008.
The purpose of the submission program is threefold: to encourage members to bless their families and others by developing their talents, to encourage members to use their talents [...]

Benefit concert to feature Peter Breinholt, Alex Boye and others
Friday night, singers and basketball players, designers and ticket sellers, educators and restauranteurs will join together with one purpose at Springville High School: to support the family of James Timothy Hall, whose tragic death in October left his wife and five children heartbroken and hurting for [...]

One of Utah’s most successful talent-show competitors is headed for Hollywood and the next round of the “American Idol” auditions. David Archuletta of Murray, who was a big winner on “Star Search” in 1993, advanced to the next round after wowing the judges at his San Diego audition.
The Murray High student (who turned 17 on [...]

The untold story of black Mormons is a compelling one and a story that needs to be told, even shouted from the rooftops.
Fortunately, this film makes a good start as it explores the history, the faith and the bigotry that has existed since the origin of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Not to [...]

The LDS Film Festival has come of age with this clean but adult-themed movie that takes an intense look at extreme forgiveness and restorative justice.
Writer/director Charles Oliver, in his first feature-length film, has captured the essence of how forgiveness frees the soul. Oliver’s special effects and colorization add to the film’s intensity. The jumps from [...]

Finished just hours before the producers screened it at the 7th Annual LDS Film Festival at the SCERA Center for the Arts, this endearing film tells the story of Rachel Taylor, played by Erin Chambers, who is called to Austria to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
All the conventions [...]

Shot in two weeks with a $150,000 budget, this movie capitalizes on blood, guts and violence to tell its story.
But then, violent movies are typically low-cost.
It’s a yarn about an ex-Navy SEAL, Michael Adams, played by Matthew Reese, who was captured during a raid to free Japanese prisoners from a North Korean prison camp. He [...]

“Forever Strong” is an enjoyable watch, one of those movies that picks you up and takes you for a nice ride without any serious suffering.
So it can be forgiven for having a predictable conclusion and final score. (Just once, it might be fun to see the favored team lose by half a point.)
The characters are [...]

This moving film depicts the spiritual side of Elvis Presley at the end of his life and his search for redemption.
The performance by Las Vegas Elvis impersonator Matt Lewis as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll searching for the King of Kings, as the promoters say, is outstanding, including his singing of some of Presley’s [...]

Not all movies at the LDS Film Festival have lighthearted or Mormon-culture themes. One such film this year, “Hold the Door,” is dark and perplexing at times.
The film is based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot,” a tale of forgiveness between two young men, and is set in New York with Latino actors. At an after-viewing [...]

Five years after she was a top-six finalist, Carmen Rasmusen still gets excited about “American Idol.”
“To this day, when I hear that (theme) music, my tummy does a flip-flop,” Rasmusen said.
And she hopes to share her excitement in a weekly column about the current season of “American Idol” a feature that debuts in today’s Deseret [...]

Imagine this: Standing in line at your favorite restaurant in Salt Lake City and getting a number.
“How long will the wait be?” you ask as you casually look down at the number the hostess gave you.
“About eight hours.”
Eight hours? Appalled, you look down at the number once more: 13,171. You think to yourself, “Am I [...]

I have continued to be impressed by how the LDS public affairs staff continues to articulate so well where journalistic writing about the church and its members goes wrong. I don’t know if it’s doing any good. I don’t know that they expect to really have an effect on the mainstream media. But these commentaries [...]

There are a few LDS singers who are going to Hollywood this season on American Idol. We all remember Carmen Rasmusen and Jon Peter Lewis from past seasons (among a few other almost-finalists). Both Carmen and Jon are gigging regularly and have recently released new albums. (I’ve seen Carmen showcase in Nashville and perform locally, [...]

The other day I had an interesting experience on campus. Having just taken a department job, I was in the office trying to work out nuts and bolts with the secretary. She, an obviously overworked lady with disheveled hair and granny-style clothing, was none too pleased to be dealing with my problems. In between our [...]

Rick Robinson’s “Evolutions of Dance” 2008 has moved to the Covey Center for the Arts.
It’s the third year Robinson has put on the show, filled with some 35 local dancers from Salt Lake and Utah counties. The two previous shows were held at the SCERA Center for the Arts in Orem.
A preview of the show [...]

The clothes people wear tell a lot about their attitude toward themselves and society, said an associate dean and costume historian in Tuesday’s devotional.
Rory Scanlon, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, spoke on the spiritual importance of appearance, as well as the temporal utility of clothing.
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From BYU Newsnet

Dance, music and film will join together to portray compelling stories from the journals of the women of the Mormon Battalion in the Brigham Young University Dancers’ Company performance “Dance in Concert: Onward, Alone.”
The story of the Mormon Battalion soldiers — who in 1846 separated from the main exodus west by members of The Church [...]

Max Dickson Weaver is a painter … a potter … a mosaic and collage designer … a macrame weaver … a jewelry maker … and he can create a pretty impressive woodcut.
This Orem man is truly an artist of all mediums.
At 91, his collection is impressive. He has pots in every corner and framed artwork [...]

When Kathryn Daynes began working on her doctorate at Indiana University, her focus was on British history.
After a change of course, however, she found a home in the Mormon History Association.
Daynes, a BYU associate professor of history, is president-elect of the organization “dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history,” according [...]

When I talk about art I tend to talk about books or TV or movies. I’ve neglected, on this blog, to ever talk about visual art. And… I’m going to neglect talking about it today as well, except to say that I have a lifelong love for abstract art. Often, when I’m particularly stressed, I [...]

There was a lot of talk at a press conference Tuesday about dreams, healing, being “blessed” and energy, but in the end a big part of what everyone involved in the planned Sky of Dreams Ranch wants is a state-of-the art place to make independent and commercial movies in southern Utah near St. George.
Construction on [...]

Bono and The Edge walk across a footbridge over an ice-crusted stream, surrounded by onlookers whose cellphone cameras are raised in a kind of group salute.
The U2 bandmates have just finished a lunch with Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford, and now they’re heading away from the actor’s ski resort in snowy Provo Canyon for [...]

Tickets to one of Irish rock band U2’s sold-out stadium concerts would probably set you back at least $100. And that would be for a seat in the “nosebleed” section, which doesn’t really offer much in the way of audio or visual splendor.
“U2 3D” is the next best thing to being at one of the [...]

Whatever is driving Hollywood’s writers and filmmakers, it’s good to see more movies affirming the sanctity of life. And there’s no denying the power of cinema to change lives—and maybe even to save them … including the unborn.
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From Christianity Today

My family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was nine years old. I enjoyed my early experiences in primary, and believed the messages I heard as I entered a new life with the light of the gospel. I loved the warm, safe feeling I felt when the missionaries [...]