Authoritative Predictions for 2013

January 15, 2013 By

Two of the bloggers from ExpertTextperts, Brett and Casey, return with another guest post.

Every new year brings with it the promise of hope and the apprehension of uncertainty, and in the interest of dispelling both we set out to forecast exactly what 2013 will offer Mormondon and the bloggernacle. Our methodology included rigorous logic, a deep grasp of human nature and, we hope, a measure of the spirit of prophecy.* We now present our predictions as a public service.

*the spirit of prophecy disclaims any responsibility for the following

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Mormon Tagged With: , ,

The Decline and Fall of Something or Other

September 10, 2011 By

I don’t know if it’s because of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, or because my part of the country just went through a freak earthquake and hurricane scare in the same week, or because I’ve been watching the market a bit too closely, but the idea of American decline has been on my mind recently.

An article in this week’s New Yorker says I’m not alone. “Decline, Fall, Rinse, Repeat,” by Adam Gopnik, is a jaunt through the long history of American “declinism” (new word?) and the popular literature of the declinist movement.

I haven’t yet read the books Gopnik examines except Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, but the article grabbed my attention by speaking to some current cultural memes:

  1. Is America going down?
  2. Is the Western World as a whole in decline?
  3. Is such a decline inevitable or can we slow/stop it?
  4. Why are we so obsessed with envisioning our own downfall?

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Events, Society & Culture Tagged With: , , , ,

Our Week in the Media: Small Stuff and Big Stuff

June 11, 2011 By

Talk about overexposure: Newsweek and BusinessWeek in the same week! Prevailing wisdom in media circles is that once the newsweeklies have picked up a trend, it has reached it apex—so I guess the church’s slide back into obscurity starts now. (Don’t worry, Russell!)

What’s striking to me has been the reaction to the different stories. From what I’ve seen in my own social circles on Facebook and elsewhere, we’re supposed to be mad at Newsweek and thrilled about the BusinessWeek article.

But that’s exactly backwards.

The reasons for the ire against Newsweek seem to revolve around the cover and a few snippets of text within the article. Let me briefly debunk two of the phrases I’ve noticed Mormons getting hung up on:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Events, Media, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation, Pop Culture, Society & Culture Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Animated Matsby

February 16, 2011 By
Another Image of Faith and Devotion…

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Filed Under: Art, Mormon, Pop Culture Tagged With: ,

Exercise and its discontent

February 2, 2011 By

I run. Intermittently, but I do run. I ran a marathon a few years ago and I’m training to run another one in June (Utah Valley Marathon, if you are interested). I’m not always certain that this is a good thing. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Mormon, Navel-Gazing & Poetic Observation Tagged With: , , ,
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