I don’t know whether any in my reading audience are tempted by, or have been affected by, or know anybody who has been affected by, Snufferism.  If so, here’s a brief item from Robert Boylan that they might find of interest:   “Trouble in Snufferite Paradise”   It’s impossible, when thinking about Snufferism — which I myself do about once a year, for roughly two minutes each time; I’ve scarcely ever blogged a line about it — to think of... Read more

    It being Friday, another article has appeared in the ever-faltering and surely, by now, nearly dead Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/lehis-dream-and-the-garden-of-eden/   ***   And another podcast is now available via the Interpreter Foundation’s nearly-defunct website:   “Walking with Dinosaurs”   ***   “A man and his wife, each in a different small plane, were out enjoying a flight, when the husband committed a flight error. He was able to recover, but his wife who... Read more

    We’ve just walked back from a performance of Ken Ludwig’s Robin Hood! in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, a small theater-in-the-round facility directly adjacent to the Old Globe Theatre and part of Balboa Park’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center complex.  This Robin Hood is a very light and sometimes quite funny piece of fluff.  Like the rest of the audience, we enjoyed it.     Maybe especially so because our second date was to attend a BYU showing of... Read more

    Once again, the Deseret News opens its pages to permit me to express my never-ending volcanic rage and to smear and verbally assault all those who disagree with me:   “‘Archaeology, Relics and Book of Mormon Belief'”   ***   We’re just back from an excellent lunch with the daughter of some former neighbors.  Cucina urbana is in the Banker’s Hill section of San Diego, on the corner of Fifth and Laurel, not too far from Balboa Park... Read more

    The madness spreads.  It’s becoming something of a pandemic:   “The Left Opens Fire on Columbus Statues”   I’m trying to be proactive, to get ahead of the curve, by thinking about names that might be acceptable to the bien-pensant far left:  How about replacing “Columbus Circle” with “Castro Circle”?  It could honor both Fidel and Raoul.  Or, if preferred, “Hugo Chavez Circle”?  And, for New York City itself, what about “New Guevara” or “New Maduro”?  Or “New... Read more

    We’ve just walked back from a performance of Hamlet in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre (directly adjacent to the Old Globe) in Balboa Park.   It was definitely different than any previous production that I’ve seen.   Not because its cast was largely African-American.  And not merely because the play had been shortened by about 25% (from a likely production time of four hours to only three).  All performances of Hamlet omit material; there are some scenes that... Read more

    As I noted yesterday, I’ve recently been reading work by the late Israeli-American mathematician, statistician, and historian of science Dr. Amir Aczel (d. late 2015, of cancer), who is probably most widely known for his bestselling 1997 book Fermat’s Last Theorem.   Here’s a passage from Amir D. Aczel, Why Science Does Not Disprove God (New York: Willam Morrow, 2014), 2-3:   As a science writer concentrating on mathematics, physics, and cosmology, I have marveled myriad times about what to me is one... Read more

    A few hours ago, I posted an item about the ongoing controversy regarding monuments to leaders of the Confederacy, and predicted that it will soon spread far beyond the legacy of the American Civil War:   “The Forthcoming Mormon Memory Wars”   Even if we look only at the battle over the legacy of the Confederacy, though, and if the following story is accurate, things are becoming exceptionally weird:   “ESPN blasted for political correctness after pulling announcer Robert... Read more