*** First, though, some Witnesses news: Some will be interested know that the entire Witnesses film is illegally available online at a site that, for obvious reasons, I won’t identify. (It apparently comes out of one foreign country via another.). Theft of intellectual property is really no different than any other kind of theft. This is contemptible, but it’s difficult to prevent or to stop. Supporting such a site is an endorsement of illegal and unethical... Read more
*** I suspect, given the many years and the considerable inflation intervening since the late 1820s, that we modern Latter-day Saints typically fail to grasp the magnitude of the sacrifice made by Martin Harris in order to publish the Book of Mormon. Printer E. B. Grandin’s price was $3000 to produce 5000 high quality books. Martin Harris was a locally prosperous small town farmer, but $3000 was nearly the value of his entire farm. To... Read more
*** First of all, although Witnesses is evidently being shown in the Orlando, Florida, area at the Epic Clermont theater, publicity for that fact has been, well, minimal. So I would like to give a shout-out to people who might be in that area or who might know people who live in the vicinity of Orlando to alert them to this. Tuesdays are often bargain days at movie theaters, so today might be a very good day to go... Read more
*** Witnesses had quite strong numbers at the box office over the past weekend. This is encouraging, and such figures are extremely important — they’re vital, in fact — for keeping the film in theaters. We’re deeply grateful for the support of those who have attended showings, just as we are for those who contributed to the movie’s creation in the first place. And, if I may say so, tonight is Family Night. And, in many places,... Read more
*** Well, the Interpreter Foundation’s Witnesses film is now out there in theaters. It’s an interesting period to premiere a new indie film, as we’re still suffering the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of church meetings and other public gatherings, including movie screenings. That throws a wild card into the game and we shall see how things go. We’re getting — so far as I can tell — absolutely excellent word of mouth for... Read more
*** While we were up in Logan yesterday, my wife and I took the opportunity to visit the gravesite of Martin Harris. He was, of course, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, and the only one of the Book of Mormon witnesses — whether we’re speaking about the Three Witnesses, the Eight Witnesses, or the informal or unofficial witnesses — to find his way out to Utah. We felt, since we’ve devoted quite... Read more
*** A little piece by yours truly went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “De Profundis” Abstract: Is the Gospel profound? Yes, it is. And one of the goals of the Interpreter Foundation is to call attention to that sometimes-overlooked profundity. In one sense, though, the question is a peripheral one. If we were drowning — which, figuratively and from the vantage point of eternity, we absolutely are — we wouldn’t complain... Read more
*** We’re in Logan for the wedding of one of my brother’s granddaughters. How he would have loved to be here! As a side benefit, we had dinner tonight at a little Italian restaurant that’s situated in an elegant old house at 129 North 100 East, just below the hill on which the Logan Utah Temple sits. It’s called Le Nonne, and I recommend it enthusiastically. Our dinner was absolutely excellent. I was delighted to learn... Read more
*** I’m told that, at least earlier today, the Witnesses film website was listing no theaters in Idaho Falls where the Interpreter Foundation’s movie was being screened. This appears to have been an error: So, if you’re in the Idaho Falls area and you’re interested in seeing Witnesses — and what on earth is wrong with you if you’re not? — please check with the Paramount Triplex Theatre there. And you should do it soon; movie runs don’t last forever,... Read more
*** I maintain a blog for many reasons. However, one of them is purely personal: My blog is something of a journal for me, and, even more particularly, it’s a way of remembering things, and especially of remembering people whose memory I refuse to allow to be wholly lost. So, for instance, I’m afraid that readers of this blog will have to put up with my regular yearly memorials to my brother and my parents.... Read more
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