“Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush!” So confidently cries Captain Ahab of his final destiny, even as his obsession sends chills down your unsettled spine. Just […]
I’m going to be very upfront with you about this. But this summer is gonna kinda suck for movies. We’re looking at basically several movies aimed at an audience younger than 21. But don’t panic – because this means this summer may be a great time to feel like a kid in the theaters. Here’s […]
“No Going Back” by Jonathan Langford is the latest offering from the Mormon community to address the difficult internal struggle young Mormon youth may feel as they learn they have what the LDS Church terms as same-gender attraction. It’s been generally well received and is up for awards. I’m concerned the reason for its positive […]
Weather gods continue to fight over Utah Valley’s atmosphere, but summer is coming whether lingering winter likes it or not. It seems like spring didn’t get much time to stick around, so here’s some pop and soft acoustic songs for April’s rainy days – and a bit of riff rock to welcome summertime. 1. The […]
Jonathan Langford’s first novel, “No Going Back,” sets a teenage boy named Paul at odds with his homosexuality, his Mormon religion, his family and his friends. It is tired but thematically rich ground, and while the premise is promising, “No Going Back” ultimately trips on its own rhetorical bombast and fails to connect with readers. […]
My first sign should’ve been the text messages. Larry (name changed) was incessant with texting me. We’d met at a bonfire of hundreds; in retrospect, how he picked me out of the darkened crowd is suspicious, and why I caved in and gave him my number is rueful. The guy had some audacity — you […]
According to the “Salt Lake Tribune”, Curtis Oda, the man behind HJR24, called affirmative action “a failure…You’re promoting discrimination to stop discrimination. You’re telling these people, ‘You’re not good enough to do it on your own. Let’s just hand it to you.’” Where is this really happening, at least at the level of public education? […]
“I’m not against gays. I like gay people. I’m just for traditional marriage!” I can do this trick too: I’m not against “Twilight”; my sister likes it. I’m just for my self-pretentious literacy! While I’m beginning to tire of hearing this “distinction,” what’s starting to bother me is the response I’m hearing from the LGBT […]
A German goldsmith living in the 1450s hid from the Catholic Church to invent what would not only bring the world out of the Dark Ages but become the first technology to spread information to the masses in the same revolutionary way the internet has led to an explosion of information accessibility today: the Gutenburg […]
Dear Freshmen and Anyone Holding Out For Kingdom Come Before They Must Take Math 1010…don’t do it. I tried. I told myself: “I’m a nerd, sure, but not enough to compute – only nerdy enough to tell others when they’re using the wrong “their” or have one too many clauses in a single sentence. I […]