no big deal.

this is the view from my hotel room. wish you were all here...

full circle

anyone remember this? Well, it's happened again, although this time Petey wasn't there. As you all know, the WGA is on strike, thus forcing our beloved Stephen Colbert and John Stewart off the air. What to do? How can we possibly get our news without their nightly reviews?

Luckily, UCB hosted the favorite son of South Carolina last nite and Brian (liz's brian) got us tickets. Just think, out of the three hundred million people in America, we were four out of 225 who were able to see Stephen. The show was perfect; in fact, even better with the school play aspect of the performance. For the word, the writers came out with posters to show the words that usually appear on screen. I won't say more, as you can find reports other places. But just know that I missed Peter not being by my side as well...

Also, if you are still reading this, you should check out this New York Public Radio interview. Brian Lehrer interviews Jan Shipps and does a pretty good job. I made some comments during the interview, but I'm afraid I did not represent very well...

hire this

So, this is what I do on a Wednesday nite.

mitt the mormon

i think paul will especially like this article about his favorite person ever.

ephinanies

sister beck must have been thinking of graco's slogan when she gave this talk. so, i guess graco wants the world to ask mormon women about their products. am i right?

get ready for utah

i know i can't wait. i hope you can't wait too.

ions bonding

so what if i like salt?

theo the dicy

check this out in the new york times. it's an article on how a practicing christian lost his faith because he couldn't answer the question of theodicy. the problem being that god, perfectly good, cannot create something evil or flawed. yet, on the earth, so much suffering and evil occurs. how did he create something so bad? it seems like most people (like 3 out of the 4 people who actually ever look at this) who read this web log probably believe in God. so, how do we reconcile it? how do we deal with the problem of evil? let's hear your thoughts. and no fair using vague quotes, etc. i'd rather we stick to what we believe and try to back it up with scripture, logic, or hard facts from pertinent sources. or we don't have to. we could just get ready for our big trip to chuck-a-rama over christmas time.....

photo fare

i've lately had a thing for very old photographs. i came across this collection of photographs. i think it may have something to do with all of the books i'm reading right now by this guy. maybe not all the books by him, but especially these three. the books are almost perfectly written and coincided nicely with my discovery of these photographs.

there is nothing more american than photographs of the western usa during the 19th century. the photographic processes they used were tedious and required much time of both the photographer and the subject. all involved were serious about preserving memories. the camera, however, was not as commonplace as it is today, and represented something new and advanced. these cameras and processes created more beautiful documents than can any modern-day megapixel or software-advanced photoshop.

i found the above collection of photographs made by george edward anderson, a photographer based out of spanish fork and springville. i found many scanned negatives of my direct ancestors, as you can see below. at christmas time, anyone who is in utah should plan on a trip to the library with me to find the hard copies of these photos. then we can go to the d.i. and shop for cameras. and after that, we can maybe go to chuck-a-rama, another thing that represents the essence of america.


this picture is of my great great grandfather's family. he has a goatee. and he has a wooden leg, but you can't see it here.


this is thomas david and priscilla merriman evans. They are my great great grandparents on my mom's side.


this is my great aunt, maggie evans.


The old guy is david thomas davis, my great great grandpa. he went to wales with thomas david evans (see above) on a mission for the mormons.


This is spanish fork at a 24th of july parade.


this is a house called the peter frandsen house.

my britney barometer

isn't it strange that no matter what company you are keeping, if you bring up britney spears, it will spark at least a 10 minute conversation? i thought that i used to be immune to it. unfortunately, last week someone turned on the tv and i saw her dancing at the mtv music awards, and now i can think of nothing else. seriously, i spend my days obsessed over britney. did you realize that she is just 5 months younger than me? which is totally wild because she is the only female artist in history to have her first four studio albums debut at no. 1 on the charts. and, in 2002, Forbes ranked her as the world's most powerful celebrity. but who needs money and power when you live in a room that measures 8 x 10?

a link

please read this

another mormon thing

saw this on mormon stories. take a look at our official stance on the mountain meadows massacre.

i just finished re-reading Juanita Brooks book on the subject, and I still know little about what actually happened. this new book that is coming out seems interesting. Elder Eyring claims Brigham Young is completely absolved of responsibility with this new research. sister brooks definitely didn't come to such a powerful conclusion, although she claims he probably wasn't to blame. however, she certainly does hold that he was responsible for some kind of cover up.

was there press on the movie september dawn in Utah? nothing much out here. the movie definitely places all the blame on Brigham Young, and almost none on local leaders, something that is not at all supported by the historical documents (at least probably, anyway).

opus no. mormon

remember when i spent an entire year playing 'music' for a certain byu performing group? remember when i sold myself for a year just to get a free trip to china? the experience there, and other places, has led me to ask some questions regarding the state of mormon music, and more broadly, mormon art.

first, what, exactly defines mormon pop music? which part of that style of music makes it fit into that genre? is it even possible to create quality mormon pop? there is plenty of quality popular music in the 'secular' music world. however, i have yet to encounter creative, innovative, original mormon pop music (with one exception being ryan shupe's 'walk the walk'). more often than not, talent, virtuosity, and creativity are traded for trite, cliche, and cookie-cutter formulas that are easy-pleasing and even easy-listening. the mormon popular music genre does nothing to challenge its listeners; it does nothing to truly express--it seems--deep and complex emotions that truly reflect the faith required to stay strong in a complicated, rich religion during a complicated time. what is needed to create quality in mormon pop music?

second, the state of serious music is perhaps in a slightly better state in the mormon art world, but not much. it seems in the church as a whole, mormon pop music is overtaking serious mormon music. exceptions include mack wilberg, barlow bradford, robert cundick, and murray boren. but it also seems that few people in the church as a whole even know mos of those names, except for mack wilberg. his music is good, published by oxford university press, but still has a populist pull and steers clear of serious modern music in its orchestration and arrangement.

why is it that in the mormon world, or even in salt lake city, serious music has yet to really catch on? is it the price? are mormons too cheap? certainly the utah symphony has problems selling out, but everyone flocks to the free concerts given by the orchestra at temple square. are we too cheap? or is it that we simply don't understand music? we don't understand everything that goes in to creating serious, modern music? is the solution a series of educational programs?

even the orchestra from temple square is sufffering from this populist turn. if you ask members of the orchestra at temple square, they will tell you that their work is more of accompiament to the choir than creating serious music. they are dissatisfied with this musically, but support it in the missionary sense of the mormon tabernacle choir.

last, i wonder why serious mormon musicans do not really participate in the mormon music scene. if you are a serious classical or jazz musician, you are most likely not involved in mormon music; rather, you are busy in the wider classical music world trying to make a living. the same goes for pop musicians who are creating original work. see, for example, my brother's favorite musician, brandon flowers. how do we make it possible for these types of people to be a part of the mormon music world, perhaps not exclusively, but at least peripherally.

great expectations, you ever heard of it?

i hope you can name this person.

tiny masters of today

hi. hi. hi.

i don't like to do this (give a report of a concert i attended), but this time i just can't resist. i mean, the yeah yeah yeahs were great and everything when i saw them at webster hall on tuesday. i love them, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. yes, it was great, and yes karen o did scream into the mic while she was pretending to eat it.



but i want to talk about the tiny masters of today. i could write a bunch of stuff and pretend to be witty and cool. i could also pretend i know so much about rock and roll and the ny music scene, but i really don't. so just check out this little band--they aren't the most talented in the world, but they were great and everybody loved them at the show. the kids twelve and the girl is 10. and they are punk rock in its most innocent (is that possible?) and pure form.

teacher training

despite my fervent warnings, it seems lafe has found his calling in life.

modernity

watch this if you dare.

hey. don't worry about it.

a goochoo goochooo goonison

gunnison, utah. in these pictures. enjoy.

in the palm

its just been so long, hasn't it? thats because april is the cruelest month.

engaged, underage, bridezilla

a couple of weeks ago a coworker mentioned the mtv, engaged and underage reality show. she talked of a mormon couple. today i found it on the mormon stories site, and everyone must watch it.

To watch the episode, click here and then click on the “Engaged and Underage: Episode 6" view all.

why don't we just let these kids get married civily and then later that day seal the deal in the temple?

Utah Family Offended at Son´s Absence from Family Blog

Sources confirmed Saturday that a Utah family was incredibly offended at son´s and brother´s refusal to comment on family blog. "It feels like Stephen doesn´t love us anymore," commented the mother. "It´s been an entire week and he hasn`t posted a single thing." Patricia Frandsen, a local homemaker and child rearer, interviewed just after she rechecked the blog, claims that her son´s refusal to post is a slight not only to her, but to the entire family. Frandsen also said, "It´s his passive-aggressive way of telling us he doesn´t like the comments we are leaving. Or is it that he doesn´t like us? Does he like us? Oh...I just wish he would get married."

"Ever since stephen moved to New York he has become aloof, liberal, and above doing anything with his family," commented Libby Frandsen-Jones, Stephen´s sister and frequent commenter on the blog. Tracy Frandsen, the blog´s author, agreed and added, "At first he stopped calling daily, then he stopped coming home for the weekly sunday dinner, and now he stops commenting on the family blog. What`s next? Join the aclu, leave the church and vote for hillary clinton?"

Jonathan, Stephen´s younger brother, who recently started his own blog, added "When i first came home from my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stephen was listening to Rage Against the Machine. Now he is 25, unmarried, and he refuses to comment on the family blog."

The family blog, started just over three weeks ago, has attracted a large amount of attention from the Frandsen Family. The blog has taken the virtual place of once-weekly-held ´heritage nights,´ and is a forum where Tracy Frandsen can post his weekly letter, and the rest of the family can comment, correct, or cajole at will.

A success by any standard, the web log fetched 104 comments from its first post. The second week, when the second post only attracted 76 comments, Frandsen complained to his friend, Madison Sowell, that perhaps he should stop posting on his blog, because of waining support from its readership. The Frandsen Family responded fiercely with 79 comments, giving Frandsen capital to spend, eventually resulting in a post, two weeks later, that was written from the point of view of the family dog, an annoying, ugly little mut. The week previous to that, when Stephen Frandsen failed to comment, the blog only received 52 comments.

"I think its pretty obvious that two weeks ago, the small number of comments on the blog was due to Stephen´s neglect," said Paul Frandsen, caught just before mountain biking down a steep and dangerous hill with his daughter strapped to his somach, and his other daughter and son in a trailer behind his $2500 bike. "But I´m not mad or anything. I called him to have him confirm or deny some news that leaked out in the comments. He denied (I knew he would) and he let me know that he hadn´t had time to formulate any comments."

Stephen Frandsen was out of the country and could not be reached to comment; however, it is clear that the declining number of comments warrants some serious soul searching on the part of both the blog´s readership, and its author.

the lamb

so while i was home in utah, i found my old journal. inside i found this picture and this description. now you know i wasn't lying about the lamb.